Family Ties
by Laree
Summary: A SenHana fic. Sendo and Rukawa are thrown together when their parents are married. Just read and see cos I'm not really that good with summaries.
1. Default Chapter

Family Ties

> >   
Family Ties   
Part One   
A SenHana fic By: Laree McKenzie   
Please send all comments to lareemackie@hotmail.com 
>> 
>> It was not a good thing to wake up Rukawa Kaede when he was sleeping. That was something that Sendo Akira learned for himself one morning as he watched his younger brother unceremoniously hurled off the dark haired boy's bed. 
>> 
>> Luckily enough, he was able to put his quick reflexes to use and was there to catch little Sendo Totoya before he made contact with the ground. The seven year old boy wriggled happily within his arms until his elder brother placed him back down onto the ground. " That was fun! Do it again, Kaede-kun!" He cried happily, clambering back up onto the dark haired boy's bed as though nothing had even happened. 
>> 
>> " Go away." 
>> 
>> " Please. Kaede-kun? Please? Pretty please, Kaede-kun!" 
>> 
>> The boy in question rolled over onto his side and pulled his comforter up over his head. " Get him out of here before I do something, Sendo. I'm warning you." 
>> 
>> At this, the little boy's large brown eyes filled with tears. " He doesn't like me, aniki! Why doesn't Kaede-kun like me? I like him..." He jumped down from the bed, wailing all the while, and clamped onto his elder brother's leg. 
>> 
>> " Kaede-kun doesn't like anybody, Toya-chan." Rukawa's elder brother, Ito informed him as he appeared by the doorway. " He's a sad, sad, bitter guy." 
>> 
>> " Do _you_ like me, Ito-chan?" 
>> 
>> " Of course. Not everyone in the Rukawa family is like Kaede." As he spoke, Ito made his way to the bed where a figure lay huddled under the comforter. Without any prior warning, he tipped one side of the mattress up, sending his younger brother tumbling to the ground. " Get up. Breakfast is ready." 
>> 
>> Sending Ito deadly glares as he picked himself off from the ground, Rukawa ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it seem somewhat neater and stalked over to his wardrobe to get some clothes as Akira watched each action with interest, a smile on his face. Ito allowed Totoya to clamber onto his back and carried him down to the kitchen " Good morning, younger brother!" He greeted Rukawa cheerfully, 
>> 
>> Rukawa scowled as he pulled out a shirt from deep within the cavernous depths of his closet. " Don't call me that." 
>> 
>> Sendo tipped his head to one side. He had finished getting himself presentable a long time ago and had only been waiting for Rukawa to get up so that they could go down to the breakfast table together.   
" Why in the world not? That's what an elder brother is supposed to call his baby brother, isn't it?" 
>> 
>> " I'm not your brother." 
>> 
>> Akira pursed his lips thoughtfully. " That's funny. I thought that the kids of a man and a woman that were married to each other are supposed to be brothers..." 
>> 
>> " Technically." Rukawa muttered. " But I never was one to go for technicalities." 
>> 
>> " Really? That's really interesting! I never knew that about you before! See, things aren't going to be so bad! Now that your father and my mom are married, we're going to be spending an awful lot of time together! We'll get to know each other really, really well!" 
>> 
>> " I can't wait." Rukawa said flatly. God. When was he going to wake up from this nightmare? It was bad enough when his father had first started going out with Sendo's widowed mother. They had been forced to come together for weekly gatherings of the Rukawa-Sendo clan then. At least he had been able to pretty much sleep through the whole ordeal, but how was he supposed to do that with this? He scowled. 
>> 
>> No one had been more surprised than Rukawa Tenchi's sons when he had announced his impending marriage a few months before. Rukawa hadn't though that things were that serious with the pretty mother of his on court rival. His father was a flighty guy whose relationships weren't known for their longevity, after all , and it had been a completely unexpected development on the satisfyingly familiar routine that was his life. 
>> 
>> And now that Sendos were here, in their home, everything had changed. It wasn't that Rukawa particularly minded Sendo Koiko. She was actually sort of nice, when it all came down to it, always willing to take the time to fix him a snack when he came home from basketball practice. It was all the baggage that she had brought along that disturbed him. There was that grinning fool, Akira who had been placed with him in his room for lack of any better place to put him ( He had suggested a cot in the tool shed but his idea had been shot down immediately by his father who, like the others, had also been completely charmed by the older boy). He couldn't stand the guy. He hated everything about him. The way that he was always trying to get him to talk when all he really wanted to do was to sleep, hated the way that he had won over the rest of his family, gullible fools that they were, and the way that Akira's hair styling products were always littered around the room. The thing that he disliked the most, though was the guy's ever cheerful manner. Sometimes, Rukawa was tempted to kick the guy in the guts just to see whether that stupid, fake smile would remain on his face or not. 
>> 
>> Then there was that little brat, Totoya, that everyone else thought was so cute. The way people acted around him, cooing and cuddling the little monster, you would think that they had never seen a seven year old child before. He was an exact miniature of his elder brother and seemed to have made disturbing his much treasured sleep his mission in his miserable little life. 
>> 
>> And of course, he couldn't forget the reason that the phone lines in the Rukawa household had been constantly tied up for the past few days, the little Princess, fifteen year old Sendo Naoko, a pretty girl with flowing black hair, beautiful eyes and a body that stopped traffic, much to the dismay of her mother. Of course, it didn't matter to him that he never really used the phone anyways, he was still disgruntled by the simple fact that these strangers were over running his home. And would always be from then on. The thought was enough to make him want to throw himself in the path of an oncoming truck. 
>> 
>> Looking at Sendo Akira's disgustingly happy face this early in the morning had that sort of effect on him too... 
>> 
>> " You're not a morning person." Akira observed, taking note of the handsome young man's scowl. 
>> 
>> " Am I being that transparent?" 
>> 
>> " I also sense some hostility here." 
>> 
>> Rukawa snorted. Hostility was too mild a word. What he felt for the spiky haired young man sitting on the extra bed that had been squashed into his room could be more aptly described as sheer and utter loathing. 
>> 
>> " If it's about the whole room thing, Rukawa, it's not easy for me either." Sendo told him with a soft sigh. He had tried his best to reach out to the younger boy ever since their parent's wedding a week before but nothing had worked. He had tried talking to him about basketball as they watched an NBA game and Rukawa had just told him to shut up, he had tried talking to him as the two of them got ready for bed in the bathroom that the two of them had to share and Rukawa had told him to shut up because he was about to go to sleep. Every time he tried to have a conversation with the younger boy he was always told to shut up so how were the two of them supposed to get to know each other better, as their parents wanted? The two of them had spoken to Sendo just before the wedding day, asking him to try and make the effort seeing as how the youngest of the Rukawa children obviously wouldn't. He thought it was sort of unfair putting all the responsibility on him but he guessed that he owed his mother and Tenchi Rukawa that much so he had promised to try for them. It obviously wasn't working out very well at the moment. " I miss having my own room in my own home too-" 
>> 
>> " Feel free to go back there any time you want to. And take your brother and sister." 
>> 
>> Akira could feel his smile becoming slightly strained. Didn't the kid think it was hard enough for him and his siblings as it was, having to move into a whole new home, leaving behind their house, their friends? He even had to start in a whole new school, seeing as how Ryonan was so far away from Rukawa home. He had had to give up the captaincy of the Ryonan basketball club, something that had disappointed him immensely but which he was willing to do, seeing as how his mother was so happy with Rukawa Tenchi. " Like it or not, we're here to stay. I'm going to have to keep sharing this room with you until we find a new house big enough for all of us, like dad said." 
>> 
>> " Dad?" Rukawa repeated, a frown marring his handsome face. 
>> 
>> " Yes, _dad_." Sendo affirmed, knowing how much the guy hated it when he called _his_ father that. " We're just going to have to cope with that. I'm willing to try and make it all work out. Mom is so happy with our new father and I like him too. He's a really nice guy! I like Ito and I like this house and even though you're making this very hard, I sort of like you too." 
>> 
>> Well, I don't like any of you, Rukawa thought to himself as he pulled on some comfortably scuffed sneakers, I don't like having any of you here. I don't like the fact that so many things had to change because of all of you. I was already happy with the way that things were before. He made his way to the door but Sendo blocked his way out. 
>> 
>> " Rukawa, look. Let's just talk for a minute, okay?" 
>> 
>> " Hmm..." 
>> 
>> He took that as a sign that he could proceed. But it was hard for him to talk with the guy glowering at him like that. He was so used to people taking an instant liking to him that he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do with this boy that so obviously detested his guts. " Like it or not, I'm here to stay." 
>> 
>> Rukawa said nothing but his eyes spoke volumes more than any words ever could. It was obvious from the look that the boy gave him that the prospect of being stoned to death with basketballs was preferable to this. 
>> 
>> " I'm going to be going to Shohuku with you, Rukawa, like it or not." The scowl deepened. " I'm going to be joining the basketball club there, like it or not. There's nothing that you and me can do about the situation that we're in but try to make the best out of it! I don't see why you think this is all so terrible! I mean, you're gaining a mother and three new siblings and we're getting a father and two new brothers! We're only getting good things from this!" 
>> 
>> " A headache." 
>> 
>> " What?" Sendo asked, puzzled, wondering why a headache was being brought up into the conversation. 
>> 
>> " That's all that I'm getting from this." He declared, brushing past Sendo and making his way down to the breakfast table with the older boy trailing after him.   
  
  

>> 
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	2. Part Two

Family Ties Part Two

> >   
Family Ties   
Part Two   
A SenHana fic by: Laree McKenzie   
Please send all comments to lareemackie@hotmail.com
>> 
>> Sendo scanned the cafeteria, wondering who he could possibly sit with. He didn't want to have to eat alone. A few girls waved at him but he didn't really know any of them well enough to be comfortable in their presence yet. Then the light glinting off the lenses of a pair of glasses came into his view, just as he heard his name being called out above the din of the chattering people. " Sendo-san! Come eat with us!"
>> 
>> He smiled, returning Kogure's wave as he wove his way over to their table. He had several classes with the Shohuku basketball club's vice captain and he had grown to like him immensely in the little while that they had know each other. He soon learned that _everyone_ liked Kogure. There was just something about the guy that endeared him immediately to people, sort of like Sendo himself. " Hello, Kogure-san! So nice of you to invite me to eat with you guys!"
>> 
>> " It's nothing." Kogure replied with a smile.
>> 
>> As Sendo slipped into a seat across the table from the boy, he noticed another member of the Shohuku basketball club, the handsome short haired guy with a scar across his chin, drawing closer to Kogure and darting suspicious glances at him. " Ko-chan, you want to introduce me to your new friend?" It sounded more like an order than a request the way that it came out.
>> 
>> " I'm Sendo. Sendo Akira." He stretched his hand out towards the other boy, who shook it a bit hesitantly.
>> 
>> " Sendo from Ryonan, right?"
>> 
>> " Sendo from Shohuku now!" He replied with a smile.
>> 
>> " Yeah, I guess so. I'm Mitsui Hisashi."
>> 
>> " Yeah, number fourteen. We've met on court a few times though we've never been formally introduced until now..."
>> 
>> " So you're going to school here now, huh?" Mitsui remarked. His tone had become somewhat less icy but he still hadn't completely thawed towards the guy. He was still slightly suspicious of the ex- Ryonan player, though he was pretty much reassured that Sendo had no designs on Kogure whatsoever.
>> 
>> " Yes."
>> 
>> " Why? I mean, if you don't mind me being so blunt-"
>> 
>> " Sashi-kun, I don't think Sendo-san wants to be interrogated right now." Kogure berated him gently, setting a cookie down onto his tray for him and another one before Sendo.
>> 
>> " Please, it's Akira. And I don't mind answering his questions at all!" Sendo smiled inwardly as he thought about what a cute couple the two of them made together. He sighed, wondering when he would be able to find somebody that cared as much for him as Kogure obviously did for Mitsui, what with the way that the boy was constantly supervising every move that Mitsui made, coaxing him into eating more food, brushing the cookie crumbs away from the front of his uniform and scolding him softly for never bothering to give his hair a comb through. " What was that that you wanted to know, Mitsui-san?"
>> 
>> " Call him ' Missy'! Not Mitsui-san. He likes that better!" A cheerful voice interjected as a lunch tray was banged down onto the table beside Sendo.
>> 
>> Sendo twisted around and looked up to find a boy with flaming red hair and adorable rosy cheeks looking down at him. He nearly choked on the cookie that Kogure had given him. This was Shohuku's number ten! He realized. No mistaking it, what with the bright red hair and that loud, rather arrogant voice. This was the guy that had appealed to him so much that time that they had played that game against Shohuku that he had had Hikoichi dig everything up that he could about him. Sakuragi Hanamichi, the hot tempered forward. God. Even his name was cute! He found himself grinning stupidly.
>> 
>> " Hey! Kogure made cookies again!" The red head crowed happily, snatching one up despite of Mitsui's protests. " Yummy!"
>> 
>> " They're supposed to be mine..." Mitsui grumbled under his breath.
>> 
>> " You want it, you can have it back." Hanamichi opened his mouth wide, letting them all have a view of the gooey mess within that was all that remained of the cookie that he had stuffed all at once into his mouth.
>> 
>> " I changed my mind."
>> 
>> " I knew you would, Missy!" Hanamichi flopped down onto the seat beside Sendo, brushing his fiery red locks off his eyes. " I mean, come on! What's a cookie to yah? Kogure gives you way more than that, doesn't he?" He made a big show of winking suggestively before attacking the pile of food on his tray.
>> 
>> Mitsui grinned, seeing how red Kogure's face had gotten at this comment. " What are you doing here, anyways? Where's the Hanamichi gang?"
>> 
>> " Detention." Hanamichi replied, in between mouthfuls of food. " Couldn't find anybody else to sit with so I had to settle for you guys. I mean, I know you're surprised that the Tensai decided to grace you with his presence but you guys _are_ the people that support my incredible performance on court, aren't you?"
>> 
>> " Shut up with all the Tensai crap before I throw up everything that I just had for lunch."
>> 
>> " What's that supposed to mean, Missy?"
>> 
>> " Hey, Hanamichi." Kogure interjected. He knew where all this needling was going to lead and he didn't think the cafeteria ladies would appreciate a punch up right now. " Have you met Sendo?"
>> 
>> " I slaughtered him on court a couple of times!"
>> 
>> " As I recall, it was the other way around!" Sendo corrected him, grinning.
>> 
>> " Then you recall wrong!" Hanamichi retorted with a snort. " Nobody defeats the great Tensai!"
>> 
>> " Why, of course. My mistake. I am honored to be in the presence of your genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi!" Sendo's head bobbed down in a little salute.
>> 
>> Mitsui snickered at this. He had to give it to the guy. He was a lot more tolerant of the idiot than he would ever be. " Give it up already, Hanamichi. This guy is a player that's way out of your league!"
>> 
>> " I'm afraid that you're thinking way too much of me."
>> 
>> " He's right, you know, Missy." Hanamichi agreed, nodding adamantly. " He's not that great! Not when compared with my genius."
>> 
>> " You can bash him if you want, you know." Mitsui informed Sendo. That's what he would have done by then if he had had to listen to this sort of crap spouting from the red head about his ball playing abilities. " Don't mind me and Kogure."
>> 
>> " Oh, I think it's good for a guy to have confidence in himself and his abilities," Sendo replied good naturedly. Hanamichi certainly did seem to have those qualities in him. " That's what makes a good player."
>> 
>> Hanamichi tipped his head to one side, a smile on his lips. " You're not like any of the other guys on the team." He remarked. " I like you."
>> 
>> Sendo nodded happily. " That's good." That would make things all the more easier for him. He was planning on getting to know this Sakuragi Hanamichi very, very well. " Because I was hoping to join the Shohuku basketball club, if nobody minded."
>> 
>> " Why should anyone mind?" Kogure asked. There had been no question in his mind that Ryonan's star player would have a position in the team. They could always use more good players. " Any other team would jump to have you join them!"
>> 
>> " Kaede made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want me on court with him unless I'm on the opposing side." Sendo replied by way of explanation.
>> 
>> Hanamichi snorted. " Who cares what the Kitsune thinks? You're gonna be on the team and that's that."
>> 
>> " It's not as though you're the one who make's those kind of decisions, you idiot." Mitsui pointed out.   
" But I really think that there'll be no problem with you joining the team! I, for one, would prefer to have you playing _with_ us instead of _against_ us..."
>> 
>> " But the moment you reveal any of the Tensai's secret strategy to those Ryonan guys is the moment that you die a slow and painful death." Hanamichi warned him, drawing a finger across his throat in a slashing motion.
>> 
>> Sendo nodded solemnly, all the while thinking about how adorable the big, red headed lug was. " I understand."
>> 
>> " As for Rukawa, well, the guy doesn't really like anybody. He's not really a team player, you know?" Mitsui told him. " He's pretty much a loner."
>> 
>> " Yeah. I know about that. Even at home he doesn't say much."
>> 
>> " At home?" Kogure repeated, raising an eyebrow questioningly at this comment.
>> 
>> " Well, yeah. He's my brother. My step-brother, that is." Sendo explained. " My mother got married to his dad just a while ago so we had to move into their house. That's the reason that I had to transfer schools. Because Ryonan High is so far away from home."
>> 
>> " Wait!" Mitsui frowned. He had had no idea whatsoever about anything that the guy was talking about. " You're saying that Rukawa is your _brother_?"
>> 
>> " Step-brother, yeah." Sendo looked at him quizzically. " You mean that none of you guys knew anything about this at all? I would have thought that Rukawa would have spoken to you guys about it or something!"
>> 
>> " The Kitsune doesn't talk to _anybody_. He's the most frigid little bastard I've ever met in my life!"
>> 
>> " Hanamichi!"
>> 
>> " Well, it's true, Kogure." Hanamichi said, shrugging. " He is. And I pity you for having to live with that block of ice." He gave Sendo a consoling pat on the back.
>> 
>> " Just let me get this straight, he told nobody _at all_ about it?" Sendo asked disbelievingly. " Not even his _friends_?"
>> 
>> " What friends?" Mitsui demanded, gesturing to a table by one corner of the cafeteria where Rukawa sat eating alone, plugged into his mp3 player.
>> 
>> " He doesn't talk to even you guys?"
>> 
>> " As I've said before, he's not a team player but he does okay on his own so nobody really minds."
>> 
>> " So I'm not the only person that he completely ignores?" Sendo felt a wave of relief at this. So that must mean that Rukawa didn't really hate his guts after all! He just acted that way with everybody!
>> 
>> " The world is just one big inconvenience for him to ignore."
>> 
>> Sendo watched Rukawa as he began to nod off over his food. " Poor guy. He must be so miserable! So lonely."
>> 
>> Hanamichi grunted. " He deserves that for the way that he's always acting!"
>> 
>> " Nobody deserves that!" Sendo protested, " I know! Let's call him over here!"
>> 
>> " No!" The red head protested, shaking his head furiously.
>> 
>> Sendo glanced over at Kogure who just shrugged. Mitsui made to open his mouth in protest, but was unable to get a word out when Kogure pinched him sharply, preventing him from doing so. " I think it's a good idea." He declared.
>> 
>> " Great! I'll go over there and wake him up then!" Sendo declared, getting to his feet. " Hanamichi, you want to come with me?"
>> 
>> The red head stayed right where he was, as appealing as the older boy's smile was. " Don't look at me. I'm not stupid enough to get anywhere near the Kitsune after he's just woken up! He's _your_ step-brother and you're the one that wants him here. You do it."   

>> 
>> [Back To Main][1] | [Back to Part One][2] | On To Part Three | [Sign My Guest Book][3] | [Mail Me][4]
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	3. Part Three

Family Ties

> > Family Ties   
Part Three   
A SenHana fic by: Laree McKenzie   
Please send all comments to lareemackie@hotmail.com
>> 
>> From the very beginning Rukawa had hated Sendo. First he had disliked him, seeing him as a rival on court, and now disliked him even more, if that was possible, because of the fact that he had dared to interfere into his family life as well. Everything about him irritated him. It was as though the guy had been created for the express purpose of making his life miserable. And created well. Right now, the fact that the bastard was talking to the do'aho so intimately wasn't exactly endearing Sendo to him anymore, either.
>> 
>> A casual observer would have thought that Rukawa was dozing peacefully over his food, as he usually did. If you looked more closely, though, you would see that he was watching the table where the four basketball players had gathered under his thick, dark lashes. Watching, with special interest, the red head and the spiky haired boy.
>> 
>> But right then, in spite of his intense, almost overpowering loathing for the guy, he would have given anything to have been Sendo. He would have given anything at all in this world to have Hanamichi hanging onto his every word like that, to be smiling at him the way that he was doing to Sendo at that very moment. A smile that reached even the iciest of hearts, even Rukawa's. He longed for that smile to be directed his way, to be the one that brought it on, but he knew very well that there was pretty much no chance of that.
>> 
>> All because of one really stupid misunderstanding.
>> 
>> Other people might think that the situation he was in was funny. But then Rukawa had never been the type who saw the funny side of a joke. Especially not when the joke was on him. And right now, it seemed to him as though his whole life was nothing more than just one big joke. As if whoever was in charge up there had decided to have some fun at his expense.
>> 
>> It was like something that came out of those cheesy soap operas that those silly girls discussed all the time. Everyone was familiar with the scenario. Boy likes girl, girl likes other boy. That sort of situation. Only in this case, the guy that the girl has a crush on, the one that the other considers his mortal enemy, is actually in love with the other guy and couldn't care less about the girl.
>> 
>> Things were already complicated enough like that. Rukawa had never counted on the prospect that maybe his annoyingly charming, not to mention disturbingly handsome elder step brother might jump into the picture also. Things just got worse and worse in his life, didn't they?
>> 
>> Somebody up there was having a _lot_ of fun with him...
>> 
>> Of course, he may have just been reading far too much into everything. He tended to do that in all things concerning Hanamichi. Sendo might just be his usual, disgustingly friendly self right then. But Rukawa didn't think so, dammit. Not with the way Sendo sat so closely to Hanamichi, not with the way that he casually brushed some minuscule speck of dirt off the broad shoulders of the red head's uniform.
>> 
>> It was obvious to him that his dear, dear step brother, had the hots for Hanamichi. And he wasn't being very discreet about it either. Not with his braying, school-girl like laughter, not with the way he took every chance he could to have contact with the handsome red head.
>> 
>> He wondered if Sendo's mother would mind awfully if he went up there and clobbered the bastard to death with his lunch tray. Deciding that maybe she would, seeing how upset she had gotten when he had stomped that stupid toy drum of Totoya's to oblivion, he contented himself with coming up with all sorts of imaginative ways that he could make Sendo's life miserable.
>> 
>> " Hey there, Rukawa-kun!"
>> 
>> Speak of the devil. Rukawa kept his eyes tightly shut, as though Sendo would just suddenly self destruct if he chose not not to acknowledge his presence.
>> 
>> " Rukawa-kun?"
>> 
>> " I'm sleeping."
>> 
>> Sendo smiled at this. The guy looked pretty cute when he was pretending to sleep. Too bad that his personality was a total turn off. " No you're not. You can't talk while you're sleeping."
>> 
>> " I can do a lot of things while I'm sleeping."
>> 
>> " So I heard." Sendo agreed. " But come on. You can sleep just as well with us in our table, I think."
>> 
>> " No."
>> 
>> " No? But why, Rukawa-kun? Come on. Please." Sendo wheedled, giving his arm a few good tugs.
>> 
>> Rukawa's eyes flew open. He then said the first thing that came into his mind. " You're gay, aren't you?"
>> 
>> That shut him up. Finally. That was the first time that Rukawa had ever seen that shell shocked look on the guys face. Sendo opened his mouth to reply. Then opened his mouth again but still no sound came out.
>> 
>> " You are, aren't you?"
>> 
>> Sendo cleared his throat uncomfortably, an awkward half smile on his lips. " If I said yes, would I just be giving you even more reason to hate me?"
>> 
>> " I don't need any reasons for that. I just do."
>> 
>> " Then in that case, I am." He admitted, watching Rukawa's face closely for any signs of his reaction to this. Not that there were any. " Does that disgust you?"
>> 
>> " No. Your personality does, though."
>> 
>> The older boy had to fight hard to keep his temper at this. Here he was, trying his best to get on with the ungrateful little spoiled brat and he was getting rapidly nowhere. His mother had told him to try and bear with the youngest of the Rukawa children, saying that Kaede was just being difficult because he was upset by all the changes that had suddenly occurred in his life. But Sendo rather thought that Rukawa was just being a bastard out of force of habit. " What is it exactly that you don't like about my personality?"
>> 
>> Rukawa shrugged. " You smile too much."
>> 
>> " Well, I'm sorry if that's offensive to you."
>> 
>> " You're too cheerful. Just like that do'aho."
>> 
>> " Do'aho?" Sendo repeated quizzically.
>> 
>> " Hanamichi. The guy that you were just flirting with." Rukawa told him, his eyes narrowing slightly at this. If it hadn't been for the fact that Hanamichi hated his guts all because of that Haruko Akagi, he would have confronted him by now and told him about all the things that he made him feel. That wasn't an option right at that moment though. Hanamichi considered him to be his mortal enemy and would probably laugh his head off if he told him about all of that.
>> 
>> " Flirting with?" Sendo tried to cover his surprise. He didn't think Rukawa was that observant! Hell, he hadn't even thought the guy was awake! And what was he doing watching them in the first place anyways? " Is being friendly to someone considered flirting now?"
>> 
>> " You weren't _just being friendly_. You were being a shameless flirt." Rukawa corrected him.
>> 
>> " And this should matter to you because...?"
>> 
>> Because I love Hanamichi and I don't want anybody messing with him, Rukawa thought inwardly. Instead, he said out loud. " Because I don't like him." He wondered if Sendo could see that this was an outright lie.
>> 
>> " That's really no concern of mine, Rukawa-kun. Why should it matter to me if you dislike him?" Sendo shrugged. " As Ito said before, it seems as though you dislike _everybody_. No offense or anything. But really, if you bothered to get to know Hana-kun a bit better, you would see what a charming guy he is!"
>> 
>> Oh, I know perfectly well about that do'aho's charms, Rukawa thought miserably to himself, cursing Haruko Akagi inwardly for being the cause of the bad feeling between him and Hanamichi. Haruko Akagi...A thought struck him. " Besides, he's straight. He has a crush on Haruko Akagi."
>> 
>> Well, this was an unexpected setback. He had never even considered the possibility that there might already be another person in Hanamichi's heart. He could handle the whole straight thing. After all, Koshino had been straight until Sendo had confronted him with his feelings but it might be a little more awkward if another person was involved. " Haruko Akagi, huh? Is she pretty?"
>> 
>> " I guess so."
>> 
>> " Does she like Hana-kun too?"
>> 
>> Hana-kun? Sendo was already close enough to Hanamichi to call him Hana-kun after only a few minutes of knowing each other? Rukawa's stomach twisted into a tight knot at this. He wasn't about to encourage Sendo by telling him that Haruko felt absolutely nothing for the redhead. " She does. Very much."
>> 
>> " So, why are they still not together?"
>> 
>> " Haruko is the shy type."
>> 
>> Sendo's smile brightened at this. " You know what they say though, right, younger brother?"
>> 
>> " No..."
>> 
>> " All is fair in love and war."
>> 
>> Rukawa cursed Sendo inwardly. Damn. The guy was more persistent than he had ever thought possible. But then, come to think of it, so was he. Just holding on every day, hoping against hope that the person who absolutely detested him would just suddenly wake up one day, thinking that maybe he wasn't so bad after all and give him a chance. " This whole Hanamichi thing is not a good idea."
>> 
>> " Why?"
>> 
>> " It just isn't. Not very good for a do'aho to get it on with another do'aho. You know what they say..."
>> 
>> " What?"
>> 
>> " Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in groups."
>> 
>> Sendo shook his head. " You know what, Rukawa. I used to think that there was no person out there that I could dislike. I'm beginning to think differently."
>> 
>> " I'm honored to be the one who is changing your views." Rukawa retorted.
>> 
>> " If you want to continue being your usual lonesome self right here, then be my guest." Sendo declared turning to walk away. " I guess they were all right in saying that you're a lost case."   
  
  

>> 
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	4. Part Four

Family Ties

> >   
Family Ties   
Part Four   
A SenHanaRu fic by: Laree McKenzie   
Please send all comments to lareemackie@hotmail.com
>> 
>> " Ru-Ka-Wa! Ru-Ka-Wa!"
>> 
>> " What's that?" Sendo asked, gesturing vaguely towards the trio of girls jumping around giddily by the sidelines after Rukawa had gotten in a beauty of a shot.
>> 
>> " The Rukawa cheering brigade..." Kogure muttered, rubbing his temple wearily. The shrill squeals of those girls never failed to get to him. " They aren't usually allowed in here while we practice. They just distract everybody. Especially Hanamichi. The guy hates them."
>> 
>> " So why are they here now, then?"
>> 
>> " Akagi-san usually scares them off but he's not here this afternoon. Some advanced classes or something like that. I'd go over there and ask them to leave myself but to tell you the truth, they sort of frighten me!" Kogure admitted sheepishly.
>> 
>> " Rukawa fanatics, huh? What about the girl over there, standing by the doorway? Is she one of them?" Sendo asked. The pretty, brown haired girl quietly watching them practice had caught his eye immediately. Mainly because of the way that Hanamichi carried on every time that she called out some words of encouragement. He had a sneaking suspicion as to her identity...
>> 
>> " Oh, her?" Kogure laughed softly. " That's Akagi-san's younger sister, Haruko. She's not as vocal as those three, but yeah, she's a Rukawa fan. I don't think it will take that long before _you_ have your own group of admirers, though. I mean, you're such a great player and so handsome too."
>> 
>> " Kogure-kun? Come over here and help me out with my warm ups, will you?" Mitsui asked in an overly sweet tone of voice as his hand clamped onto his wrist and pulled him away.
>> 
>> " But you've already finished with your warm ups, Sashi-kun! We've-" His words were cut off as Mitsui shoved him at Hanamichi saying that he could help the guy out with his foot work exercises then while he talked to Sendo.
>> 
>> Mitsui managed to get his message through with only one word. " Mine."
>> 
>> Sendo nodded amiably. " Yours." He agreed. Mitsui didn't really have anything to worry about anyways. He already had his eye in somebody else. He just had to decide what action to take next. Guessing that it would be best for him to get to know the competition first, he discarded the basketball that he had been dribbling idly all the while and made his way towards the girl. " Hello!" He called out merrily.
>> 
>> She looked rather taken aback to be addressed by him but soon recovered herself and returned his smile. " Hello."
>> 
>> He leaned against the wall beside her, his eyes following Hanamichi's movements on court as he made his way towards his team's basket. " He's good isn't he?"
>> 
>> Haruko nodded eagerly. " Yes. Sakuragi-kun. Shohuku is going to do very well this year, I think. We've got such a lot of great players already and now we even have you to add to Rukawa and my elder brother, Ryota and Mitsui..."
>> 
>> " So you know who I am then?"
>> 
>> She smiled. " How could I not? Your team mates must be terribly disappointed, you suddenly transferring here and everything! How did they take the news? "
>> 
>> " Badly." Sendo admitted with a wry smile. He wasn't looking forward to meeting his former team mates on court but he played to win. No matter who it was that he was competing against. " But it was necessary. Couldn't be avoided."
>> 
>> " Why?"
>> 
>> " My mother was remarried and we had to move into my step father's house."
>> 
>> " That must be tough." Haruko commiserated.
>> 
>> Sendo shrugged. " Sort of. I'm trying to get along with Kaede as best as I can, though sometimes he can be pretty testy."
>> 
>> " Kaede? You mean on court?"
>> 
>> " On court. At home..."
>> 
>> Haruko's eyebrows shot up at this. " At home?" She repeated.
>> 
>> " Yeah. Kaede-kun is my step brother..." Sendo told her, by now used to the reaction that this got from people. It seemed as though Rukawa had never even bothered to tell anybody about the fact that Sendo was his brand new step brother, as though it would all just turn out to be a dream if nobody knew about it.
>> 
>> " Rukawa-kun never told me anything about that..." Haruko reddened slightly. " But then, he doesn't really talk that much with anybody..."
>> 
>> And like a seasoned politician, Sendo steered the conversation towards the subject that he was most interested in. " Not like Hana-kun, huh?"
>> 
>> " No. Hanamichi-kun is another matter all together." There was a fond smile on Haruko's lips as she thought about her fiery red headed friend. There's nobody else quite like him. He's the greatest."
>> 
>> " The two of you are very close, huh?"
>> 
>> " We're close, yeah, I guess."
>> 
>> " You like him?"
>> 
>> " It's hard not to." Haruko pointed out.
>> 
>> Sendo nodded in agreement. It did seem as though Hanamichi was well know and well liked around campus because of his wacky antics and incredibly outgoing nature. " You're right. It is." He paused. He cleared his throat. " The two of you are going out?" He asked as casually as he could manage.
>> 
>> For a while there was shocked silence, then she burst out laughing as though what he had just said was the funniest thing that he had ever heard in this world. " You're joking, right?"
>> 
>> " No. I just thought since the two of you appeared so close and he seemed to like you so much..."
>> 
>> " Hanamichi-kun and I are really good friends but I would never think of going out with him or anything..." Haruko wrinkled her little nose in disgust. " That would just be weird. Sort of like dating your brother..."
>> 
>> " So there is nothing at all going on between the two of you?"
>> 
>> Haruko looked at him quizzically. " Of course not! Why are you asking me all this?"
>> 
>> Sendo shrugged. " Just curious." He was feeling elated. He had nothing to worry about when it came to Haruko Akagi then! His coast was clear and it should all be smooth sailing from here!
>> 
>> Of course, he really shouldn't be too happy about all of this. The girl that Hanamichi had a crush on appeared to have no feelings for him whatsoever besides one of friendship. That would have to hurt the red head. Still, he couldn't help feeling a wave of pleasure at this discovery.
>> 
>> Pretty much nothing stood between him and Hanamichi now.   

>> 
>> " Why are you looking at me like that, Kitsune?"
>> 
>> " I'm thinking that you must be really pissed."
>> 
>> " I am. Stop looking at me. I don't like you looking at me with your weird Kitsune eyes..." Hanamichi muttered, throwing the ball hard at Rukawa who dodged it easily.
>> 
>> " Do'aho. I was talking about Sendo." Rukawa retorted, restraining the urged to throw the ball he was holding right back at the red head.
>> 
>> " Why should I be pissed with Sendo?" Hanamichi demanded. " He's not an asshole like you."
>> 
>> " You don't live with him."
>> 
>> " Anyone who's forced to live under the same roof as you would have to become an asshole to survive." The redhead pointed out.
>> 
>> " Whatever." Rukawa turned his back to him. " I just thought that you might want to know that your little friend Sendo is making his move on Haruko..."
>> 
>> " What?" Hanamichi bellowed, whirling around suddenly and catching sight of the spiky haired ex-Ryonan player leaning against the wall beside Haruko and conversing with her. " That bastard!"
>> 
>> Rukawa had to work hard to suppress his smile.
>> 
>> " I'll kill him!"
>> 
>> He walked away, mentally patting himself on the back. That had been precisely the kind of reaction that he had been expecting. Precisely the kind that he had wanted...   

>> 
>> [Back To Main][1] | [Back to Part Three][2] | On to Part Five |[Sign My Guest Book][3] | [Mail Me][4]
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	5. Part Five

Family Ties

> > Family Ties   
Part Five   
A SenHanaRu fic by: Laree McKenzie   
Please send all comments to lareemackie@hotmail.com
>> 
>> Sendo's hand hovered indecisively over the receiver of the telephone. His eyes went over the slightly crumpled piece of paper where he had hastily scribbled a telephone number that he had coaxed out of Kogure, then back to the phone dials. Taking a deep breath, he began to punch in the corresponding numbers and waited until he could hear ringing from the other end. He was able to stay on for a couple of rings but as had been the case many times before, he eventually lost his nerve and slammed the receiver back down onto its cradle. He stared down balefully at the cause of all his misery, breathing heavily, as though he had just played a particularly strenuous game of basketball. " You can do this..." He urged himself softly under his breath as he balled his hands up into fists determinedly. " It's just one, stupid phone call. You just call him, after all, you've spoken to him lots of times before, haven't you? You ask him if he wants to play a game of one on one and maybe have dinner afterwards and that's all. That's it. You can do it!" It was already hard enough for him to work up the guts to call up Hanamichi but everything was made even worse what with Rukawa glowering at him from his position on his bed. Sendo whirled around, his brown eyes meeting with cold blue ones. " Do you mind?"
>> 
>> " Yes. I do."
>> 
>> " I could use a little privacy, you know." Sendo gave him a blatant hint this time, wanting Rukawa gone while he spoke to the redhead. That was, if he ever worked up enough courage to call Hanamichi first.
>> 
>> Rukawa shrugged, shifting to a more comfortable position on the bed. " This is my room." He pointed out.
>> 
>> " And you're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Never before had the urge to bash Rukawa right on the face been stronger for Sendo.
>> 
>> " You're right. Not likely."
>> 
>> " Fine. Suit yourself. It's not as though you've ever done otherwise." The older boy remarked, turning back to the phone. He took a deep breath to steel himself before pressing the receiver against his ear and being treated to a blast of mad giggling.
>> 
>> " Oh! Fumi-kun! You're so funny! I like funny guys!" Another round of high pitched giggles assailed Sendo's ears.
>> 
>> " Then will you let this funny guy buy you dinner tomorrow?" Came a male voice.
>> 
>> " Depends on where the funny guy plans on taking me! Will you-"
>> 
>> " Naoko-chan." Sendo interjected before his younger sister could go on any further. " Naoko-chan. Please. I need to use the phone. It's really important." It was either that he get on with it tonight or he would just keep procrastinating. He didn't think he could afford that. Hanamichi was an attractive guy and it wouldn't take long for him to be snapped up by somebody else.
>> 
>> " Onii-chan!" his sister wailed. " Why are you listening in on my conversation, Nii-chan? You're not supposed to do that! Go away! I'm still using it!"
>> 
>> " But Naoko-chan! I-"
>> 
>> " Later, Nii-chan!" His sister insisted stubbornly.
>> 
>> Sendo could just about picture the pretty pout on his sisters face. Usually, he would bend to his sister's wishes. He adored the beautiful fifteen year old girl and was pretty much wrapped around her little finger, but he had been in a particularly bad mood lately, what with having to put up with all of Rukawa's crap.   
" Get off the phone now or I swear I'll tell mom about that interesting time that I ran into you at the cinemas with that guy that she told you you weren't supposed to go out with anymore."
>> 
>> There was a sound of outrage from the other end of the line. " What? You can't-"
>> 
>> " By the time I pick up the phone, the line should be free. Or else." Sendo declared, slamming the receiver down. He felt sort of bad about what he had done. Blackmailing wasn't usually his style, preferring to just use excessive charm. Naoko was likely going to be pissed but he would make it up to her later. Maybe he would take he out to the movies tomorrow. Just the two of them. After a few seconds, he picked the phone up again and dialed Hanamichi's number, which he had now memorized by heart. It rang once, and then twice. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Rukawa getting up from the bed and walking nonchalantly towards his dresser. Another ring. Suddenly, the sound of the voice that had lately been in Sendo's dreams.
>> 
>> " Hello? Who is this?"
>> 
>> Sendo opened his mouth to reply when the line suddenly went dead. " What the hell?"
>> 
>> Rukawa shrugged and held out the telephone cord towards him. " I _accidentally_ stepped on it and I just jerked it off its plug." He put special stress on the word accidentally.
>> 
>> " I'm sure." Sendo growled through gritted teeth, yanking the plug from his hands and setting the phone up properly once more. What was the matter with the guy? He acted even weirder than his customary self whenever anything about Hanamichi was involved. Did he really hate the guy that much? " You know what, I think I liked you better when you're not speaking or anything."
>> 
>> " Yeah, well. I never liked you."
>> 
>> So for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, he dialed the adorable redhead's number.
>> 
>> The phone was picked up almost immediately. " _What_? What is it?"
>> 
>> Sendo drew the receiver away from his ears, startled by Hanamichi's shouting. " Hana-kun. It's me. Sendo."
>> 
>> " Don't you Hana-kun me!"
>> 
>> " But-"
>> 
>> " We're you the one that called before? The one that hung up?"
>> 
>> " Well, yeah. But that was only because Rukawa-"
>> 
>> " You and Rukawa are both the same, you know. Dammit! Think you could fool the great Tensai with your buddy buddy act you grinning loon?" There was a loud snort. " No way! You keep away from me from now on, you hear me, dammit! Unless you want me to make sure that you're benched for the rest of the season!"
>> 
>> " But what did I-" The line went dead before he could even finish his question. Numbly, he set the phone back on it's receiver, not sure about what had just happened. What the hell had happened to the sweet Hanamichi that he adored?
>> 
>> " Busted." This was the first time that Sendo had ever seen some semblance of a smile on his younger step brother's face. It would have made him really handsome if it wasn't for the fact that he looked so damn malicious.
>> 
>> " Shut up." He muttered, lowering himself onto his own bed, still thinking over what he had done to deserve such a chewing out.
>> 
>> " He hates you." Rukawa told him, not able to resist rubbing salt into the open wound. He was just sadistically glad to see that stupid smile finally wiped off his face. " See. I told you that he was straight."
>> 
>> " And what does that have to do with it?" Sendo demanded, venting out all of his frustration on his pillow.
>> 
>> " Well, if you were a straight guy who found out some gay-boy had a crush on you, what would your reaction be?" Rukawa demanded. " Wouldn't exactly be pleasant, would it? Especially not in the case of that do'aho, what with him acting so macho and everything."
>> 
>> " Are you implying that Hanamichi is homophobic? That he somehow found out that I had a crush on him-"
>> 
>> Rukawa sneered. " That wouldn't be too hard, considering the way that you've been carrying on whenever he's around."
>> 
>> " But that doesn't make any sense at all!" Sendo protested, refusing to believe that he really did have no chance with Hanamichi. " He's friends with Kogure and Mitsui and they're gay, aren't they? He doesn't care!"
>> 
>> " He's friends with them but at least they don't hit on him all the time, like _you_ did!" Rukawa pointed out.
>> 
>> " So I scared him off?"
>> 
>> " That's what I think..."
>> 
>> " So what should I do then?" This was crazy. Him asking Rukawa for advice was just plain weird but there was nothing else for it. He wanted Hanamichi badly enough to try anything at this point.
>> 
>> " You lay low for a while. Leave him alone." Rukawa recommended, nodding sagely.
>> 
>> " Why?"
>> 
>> " To give him some time to get used to the idea." And to give me enough time to somehow make him mine, Rukawa though inwardly, his lips forming a sly smile.   
  

>> 
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	6. Part Six

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Six 

" Is he dead?" Mitsui asked with some interest as he poked at the miserable lump of humanity sprawled face down on the cafeteria table. 

" No." Sendo's voice was slightly muffled, owing to the fact that his face was buried within his arms. He pushed Mitsui's hand away irritably. He was not in the mood for company. Not even if it was from the two seniors that had rapidly become his closest friends in Shohuku. He should have taken a page from Mitsui's book and done what he did whenever the scar faced boy was stressed. He had learned of Mitsui's strange habit of locking himself into the toilet when the guy had gotten into one of his rare fights with his boyfriend a couple of days ago, something involving Mitsui not applying himself in his schoolwork, and a worried Kogure had asked him to try and talk him out of the stall. Right now, he guessed that he could do with a bit of solitude himself, and a toilet cubicle seemed to be the ideal place for that. No smirking Mitsui, no concerned Kogure and no gorgeous redhead joking around with his friends in a nearby table." But it would be better if I were, really." 

" Maa, Maa." Kogure murmured soothingly, hovering over him like a worried mother hen. " Sendo-kun! Don't talk like that! Now, sit up and tell Kogure-niisan what the matter is. Why h 


	7. Part Seven

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Seven 

" For the last time, you stupid smiley. Get the hell away from me!" Hanamichi Sakuragi roared, hurling his rather thick Algebra book at the second year who somehow managed to catch it before it got him right on his privates. He had expected this move. After all, Hanamichi had spent the whole afternoon throwing all sorts of things at him in an attempt to shake him off his trail and by now, he had an armful of the boy's things, ranging from a half finished lollipop which had stuck to his blazer, to one of Hanamichi's sneakers. 

" Hana-kun! Why must you be so cruel to me?" Sendo demanded, putting on a sudden burst of speed and managing to drop the sneaker, several very crumpled notes and Hanamichi's binder in the pursuit. He grabbed hold of the younger boy's elbow and spun him around, narrowly dodging a punch aimed directly at his face. "Please Hana-kun! Just hear me out!" He had spent the whole afternoon waiting for the boy by the gates to the school, determined to have him listen to what he wanted to say. 

Hanamichi scowled, jerking away from him. " I thought that you were my friend, Sendo." 

" So you don't consider me to be your friend anymore, Hana-kun?" 

" Friends don't try to make a move on the girl that they know their supposed friend has a crush on!" Hanamichi growled, resisting the urge to throw another punch at his senior. He was going to keep his cool, he told himself. He wasn't supposed to be fighting anymore after all. 

" Does Haruko-san really mean that much to you, Hana-kun?" Sendo asked sadly, his heart sinking rapidly. What if Mitsui was wrong and the thing that Hanamichi had for Haruko wasn't just a stupid little crush, as he had claimed that it was. He had let his hopes up so much when he had learned of the truth about all the things that Rukawa told him, only to have them all crushed right now by the simple fact that Hanamichi seemed so dammed set on that girl! 

" I...Well..." Hanamichi's face became progressively redder and redder as he tried to think up some sort of answer for this question. " I like her. I really...like her." 

" But would you say that what you're feeling is...Love?" Sendo asked, waiting tensely for his answer. 

" Hell, Sendo!" Hanamichi ran a hand agitatedly through his fiery red hair. " How am I supposed to know? I'm only sixteen!" 

" Love can strike at any time, Hana-kun. That's what makes it so scary." Sendo told him quietly, he peered down at Hanamichi through lowered lashes. " I'm only a year older than you and already I know that I'm in love. Very, very deeply in love with the sweetest, most amusing person that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing...I know that, if given the chance, I would want to spend the rest of my life forever with this one person, because there's so much depth, so much things to know that I will never grow tired of waking up to that person every day for the rest of my life. It's sort of funny, cos I've only known this person for a while. But already, I'm so sure. Already, I know that this person might be the one." 

Hanamichi looked up at him disbelievingly. " Have you gone crazy, Sendo? Gori will kill you if you propose to his sister now! He's so overprotective of her! He wont let her get married when she's only fifteen!" 

" You aren't getting me, are you?" 

" You've made up your mind that you want to marry Haruko..." Hanamichi shrugged. " I like her a lot, Sendo but if you're really _that_ serious about her! Well, I'm not ready to make the commitment to her that you are..." 

" God, Hanamichi! How dense can you be?!?" 

" What? Are you saying that the Tensai is stupid?!?" 

" No...Not stupid. Just incredibly slow..." Sendo muttered under his breath. 

" _What_?!?" 

" Look, Hanamichi, let me put this more clearly. I am not planning on getting married to anyone anytime soon." Sendo pronounced each word clearly, carefully, as though speaking to a child. " And Haruko would be the last person that I would have in mind when the time comes that I _do_ decide to get married!" 

" What?!? Are you implying that there is something wrong with Haruko-chan?" 

" No, Hanamichi. All I'm saying is that Haruko-chan isn't my type." Sendo continued nonchalantly,   
" Let's just say that she's the wrong gender for me." 

" Oh. So you're gay?" 

Sendo gaped at him. He hadn't been prepared for such ready acceptance of the information that he had just divulged. " Er...I guess that's what I'm trying to say..." He finally managed to choke out with some effort. 

" Really?" 

" Yeah. Really." 

" Oh." A goofy smile on his face, Hanamichi ran a hand through his fiery red hair in a vain attempt to tame the tangled locks. " And here I was thinking that you were actually hitting on Haruko. Guess I was wrong then, huh? I was ready to kill you for a moment there but now I guess you're not so bad after all!" 

" That...That's all?" Sendo asked disbelievingly. 

Hanamichi frowned at him. " Well, what else do you want me to say? I'm not gonna say sorry! The Tensai never says that he is sorry because the Tensai never does anything that he will be sorry for! So you better not hold your breath for that! Besides, it's all your fault, acting so close to Haruko-chan and everything..." 

" You don't care that I'm...Well, gay or anything?" Sendo asked quietly, his eyes trained down on the pavement as though it were the most interesting thing that he had ever seen in the world. 

" Ha! Why should the Tensai care about such things?" Hanamichi threw back his head and laughed that loud, infectious laugh of his. " I'm not all narrow minded like some people! I don't care what you are as long as you're still Sendo Akira." 

Slowly, Sendo's infamous smile returned. Hanamichi, from the way that he was carrying on, probably had no idea how much that last sentence of his had meant to him. He took a deep breath, to strengthen his resolve, and commented as casually as he could. " So the Tensai is open minded, huh?" 

" Very." 

" Would the Tensai like to prove this then?" 

" The Tensai, though he doesn't really feel the need to prove himself since he is already sure of his greatness..." Hanamichi puffed his chest out, " Will humor you with this one. What would you like me to do to prove myself?" 

" Go out on a date with me." Sendo said, all in a rush. He held his breath, waiting for the redhead's answer, but the guy seemed to be in a deep state of shock. He had to slap the younger boy gently on the cheek just to get him blinking again. 

" What was that again, Sendo?" 

" If you're so open minded, then you wouldn't mind going out on a date with me!" 

" But...But..." Hanamichi spluttered, his face turning a startling red. Sendo thought he looked absolutely adorable. " Were...We're both..._guys_!" 

Sendo shrugged. " That didn't stop you from going out with Mitsui before, did it?" 

" What?" Hanamichi shouted, pouncing on Sendo. He grabbed the taller basketball player and began to shake him roughly, his head lolling backwards and forwards with the force of Hanamichi's shaking. " How the hell did you find out about that?!? Mitsui and I swore to take that to our graves!" 

" It's not important how I found out!" Sendo yelled back, pulling away. " What I want to know is whether the Tensai is open minded enough to go out with me, Sendo Akira. Your friend. Another guy, as you must have noticed by now..." 

" What about that person that you were telling me about? The one that you said you thought you could spend the rest of your life with without growing tired of!" Hanamichi pointed out, desperately looking for some way that he could gracefully refuse. It wasn't that he didn't like Sendo. In fact, it was the exact opposite. He liked Sendo so much that he didn't want to risk losing his friendship, as he would be doing if he agreed to this. Things could become so awkward...They hadn't with Mitsui but then, different people, different reactions. 

Sendo shook his head, a small, indulgent smile on his lips. " Hana-kun! You're so cute! I can't believe that you haven't figured it out until now!" 

" Figured what out?" Hanamichi demanded, not appreciating being kept in the dark like this. 

" I'll tell you when the right time comes." Sendo reassured him, taking hold of one hand and patting it gently. He was immensely pleased when Hanamichi made no attempts to pull away. " So, what does the Tensai say, then? Is he open minded enough to do this?" 

Dumbly, Hanamichi nodded, staring at his hand enfolded within Sendo's. Grinning, the older boy dumped all the things that Hanamichi had thrown at him into the redhead's arms. " Good! I know where you live! I'll pick you up round seven tomorrow then, Hana-kun!" 

Hanamichi just nodded, barely acknowledging Sendo as he bade him good-bye. He, Hanamichi Sakuragi, had just made a date with Sendo Akira. And for some reason, he couldn't help feeling a little excited about it...   
  
  


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	8. Part Eight

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Eight 

" You bastard! This is all your fault!" 

Mitsui retreated a few steps, his hands held up appeasingly as Hanamichi advanced slowly towards him. The look on the redheads face made Mitsui sure that whatever the guy had in mind for him once he got a hold of him wouldn't be very pleasant. " Calm down, Sakuragi! I don't even know what you're talking about! I haven't done anything!" 

" What did you tell Sendo? Huh? Tell me what you told Sendo!" 

Mitsui blanched as Hanamichi grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him closer towards him. From the couch Kogure looked at them with a slightly panicked expression on his face. For his boyfriend's benefit, he forced a shaky little smile on his lips. " It's all right, Min-kun! I'm okay. I'm-" His words were cut off as Hanamichi began to shake him violently. 

" You won't be okay for long if you don't tell me whatever it was that you said to Sendo!" Hanamichi corrected him. 

" Hanamichi-kun! Please! Let go of Hisa-kun! Please." 

Grudgingly, Hanamichi did as his senior asked. He had always liked Kogure and besides, he didn't really think it would be a good idea to murder Mitsui in his very own living room with his little baby brother and sister sleeping peacefully in their bedroom upstairs. " Talk, Mitsui. What did you tell him?" 

" Only 'bout Rukawa and all those stupid lies that he's been telling you about Sendo..." Mitsui scowled, vowing to himself that he would never again attempt to help out Hanamichi Sakuragi in any way at all. He was getting to be too much like Kogure what with all the time that they were spending together, not that he minded that much. But he was becoming just another little bleeding heart in this sick, sad world, trying to help ingrates like this redhead before him who had just tried to throttle him to death after he had set a love struck fool straight for him. This was gratitude for you. Made you wonder how it was that Kogure had managed to keep himself from turning all bitter and hateful..." And they were all just lies, in case Sendo hasn't managed to straighten things out with you. I just thought that he needed to know, that you need to know. You're so clue less after all..." 

Hanamichi tipped his head thoughtfully to one side. He hadn't really thought about the fact that it was Rukawa that had convinced him that Sendo was making a move on Haruko, but now that Mitsui mentioned it, what had Rukawa done that for? Of course, the Kitsune was really just a troublemaker, but Hanamichi didn't think he would do such a thing without a reason, heinous bastard that he was. 

" Sakuragi, Sendo really likes you..." 

" Hisashi..." Kogure didn't think it was such a good idea to say so much to Hanamichi. They didn't even know if Sendo even wanted the redhead to know about that yet and Kogure didn't want to ruin everything for their new friend since it was so obvious that Hanamichi truly meant so much to him. 

Mitsui brushed away his protests. " He needs to know about this, Min-kun. That stupid Sendo obviously won't do anything to help himself and we can't let this idiot go right on believing all the crap that that Rukawa fed him, can we?" 

" Actually, that stupid Sendo cornered me this afternoon and he put me straight." Hanamichi informed them, his cheeks heating up slightly as he remembered the events that had occurred just a few hours ago. 

The scar faced boy's eyebrow flew up at this pronouncement. " Really?" 

" Yeah, really." 

" So everything is okay with the two of you? You guys are friends again?" 

Hanamichi debated inwardly with himself whether he should even mention this but he had to, he guessed, if he wanted some advice about the predicament that he was in. Since this was the precise reason that he had come by here, knowing that Kogure, the source of all the greatest advice, would be there, he decided that he would do so. " He asked me out for a date." 

If Mitsui had been seated on the couch, as Kogure was, Hanamichi was sure that he would have slipped right off it in his astonishment, as Kogure had. As it was, the expression on Mitsui's face was priceless. 

" Run that by me again?" 

" He asked me out. On a date." 

Grinning from ear to ear, Mitsui curled his hand into a fist and punched the air the way he usually did after throwing a successful three pointer, a strange habit of his that Kogure found simply adorable. "Yosh! I can't believe that spineless idiot finally worked up the guts to do that! What did you say? You better have said yes or I swear to all things good and holy that I will kick your ass in!" 

" Correct me if I'm wrong but as I recall it, the last time the two of us fought, _I_ was the one who kicked _your_ ass." Mitsui was in such a good mood that the let this comment pass without any protest. Shyly, his voice lowering, Hanamichi added, " And I said yes..." 

" Finally!" 

" But I'm still not finished with you, Mitsui! Don't think that just 'cos I'm really happy about all of this..." Hanamichi's face reddened as he realized what he had just said. " Er...Don't think that I'm going to forget about all that stuff!" 

" What stuff?" Mitsui asked, puzzled. 

" You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!" Hanamichi moved in closer and lowered his voice, not wanting Kogure to overhear what he was about to say. " Why did you tell him about all the stuff that happened before?" 

" What about the stuff that happened before?" Hanamichi made desperate shushing gestures. Mitsui was getting more and more mystified at his friend's strange behavior. " What is it, Hanamichi? Dammit! Just spit it out! I don't understand all your gesturing!" 

Finally losing his temper, Hanamichi bellowed. _" Why the hell did you have to tell Sendo about the two of us going out together before, huh?"_

Mitsui raised an eyebrow, surprised. You would have thought that Sakuragi would have been in a better mood than this, having just been asked out by a gorgeous guy like Sendo. Not that he would ever trade his beloved Min-kun in for the guy. " It wasn't me. It was my Min-kun..." 

Hanamichi's brows knitted together in thought. " Min-kun? And how the hell did Min-kun find out about this?" 

" I told him about it." 

" What the hell for?" 

" Because we don't believe in keeping things from each other. Sides, Hanamichi. I had a pretty nice time back then..." Mitsui shrugged, giving him a lopsided smile. " I don't regret it or anything and I'm not ashamed of the time that we spent together like you seem to be..." 

The redhead began to shake his head furiously. " I'm not ashamed of it! I had a nice time too!" 

Kogure cleared his throat, thinking that maybe his presence had been completely forgotten. " Should I be getting jealous by now?" 

" No, no, Min-kun!" Mitsui put in hastily. As much as he had enjoyed what he had had with Hanamichi before, Kogure was his present love, and the one that he knew, deep down in his heart, would remain his love indefinitely. " I'm just trying to find out a few things here..." 

Hanamichi sighed, shaking his head slowly..." Look...I'm not really angry about anything... It doesn't really matter to me who told Sendo what...I just...Well, you know...I just really need some advice right now...I don't know..." 

" You don't need to come raging up to us, threatening Mitsui's life if you need advice, Hanamichi-kun..." Kogure told the younger boy with a smile. " You can just come right up to us and tell us what the problem is. Just like that..." 

" Yes...The problem..." 

" The problem..." Mitsui urged, raising an eyebrow expectantly... 

Hanamichi's shoulders slumped..." The problem is that I can't see a problem...The problem is that I sort of like the idea of Sendo and me...The problem is...That I'm scared that I'll completely mess things up when this means such a lot to me..." 

" Trust me, Hana-kun." Mitsui flashed him a reassuring smile as he plopped himself down onto the sofa and draped an arm around Kogure's shoulders. " Those are not problems. You can do no wrong in Sendo Akira's eyes. The one with the real big problem right now is Rukawa once Sendo gets a hold on him..."   


~**~ 

" You're really lucky you know, Rukawa." Sendo commented as he walked into the room that he shared with his younger stepbrother and pulled off the plug to the T.V set so that he could get his attention away from the NBA game on the screen. " A while ago, I was just about ready to kill you for all the stunts that you pulled. But I'm in a better mood now and I've decided that I wont murder you. Just hurt you. Very, very badly." 

" I'm very scared." But Rukawa's tone of voice indicated otherwise. 

" You really don't like me, do you?" 

" If you only figured that out now then you're even stupider than I thought humanly possible." Rolling his eyes, Rukawa gracefully got to his feet to try and plug the T.V back on, but Sendo pushed him right back down into a sitting position on the bed. 

" Tell me, Rukawa. Why did you pull that stunt? Why did you tell Hanamichi all those things about me?" Sendo demanded, taking in a few deep breaths to try and quell his anger. He had to keep himself calm. After all, he didn't want to accidentally strangle the guy to death without even getting some answers. 

" You want to know, Sendo?" Rukawa's voice was low, dangerous. His eyes flashing angrily. Sendo Akira had already stolen everything that he used to hold dear. The privacy in his room, his family, everything. What difference would losing Hanamichi to him make? But it made a very big difference to him. " You want to know? It's because I love him, all right? It's because I love him! And I can't bear the thought of losing him to you too! Sendo, you've taken everything from me. Do you really have to take Hanamichi too?"   


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	9. Part Nine

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Nine 

A stunned silence met this pronouncement. Without another word, Rukawa grabbed a basketball which was lying on the floor. He wanted to go out to the courts for some practice. A bit of strenuous exercise always managed to calm him down, and right now, he needed that. He couldn't believe that he had just lost all of his cool, a very rare occurrence for him, and blurted out his deepest secret to the last person that he would have wanted to know about it. He was furious with himself, and at Sendo. 

" What, you're just going to go?" Sendo demanded, watching as he gathered all of his things. How could Rukawa act as though he had said nothing out of the ordinary and just walk away from this when they were just getting to the root of the problem? So this was what was what the matter was! Rukawa had been jealous of the fact that Hanamichi had been paying more attention to him. This was why he had said all those things and why there had been so much bad feeling between the two of them. Now Sendo thought he was beginning to understand. 

" Yes." Rukawa replied. He just needed to get out of here as quickly as he could. He needed to get away from Sendo before he could say any more things that he could regret. Oh, God. Had he really just revealed what he thought he had? After all this time of keeping his feelings about the loud mouth redhead to himself, he finally just blurted it all out after a moment of sheer frustration and anger. He couldn't believe it. He was usually so in control. But then things were different whenever it concerned anything with Sakuragi Hanamichi. That guy made him so vulnerable. So unsure of himself... 

"Look, I think we should talk..." 

" Why? There's nothing to talk about." 

" For one thing, we should discuss this whole Hanamichi scenario..." Sendo began. He felt that nothing in this world would ever surprise him anymore after hearing that. After all, Rukawa had always managed to act as though he thought Hanamichi was less than the dirt beneath his feet. Who would have thought. 

" There's nothing to discuss about Hanamichi." Rukawa snapped. He took a while to compose himself before he went on. Already it was pretty obvious to him what the outcome would be if the redhead was ever forced to make a choice between him and Sendo. " It seems to me that it's pretty obvious who he wants." 

"Rukawa..." 

" You've always managed to get the better of me in everything, Sendo." This was a very hard thing for Rukawa to admit but it was the truth. The guy always managed to get off on top. Always succeeded in getting everything that Rukawa longed for, and he hated it. He couldn't stand it because it hurt his pride so badly to know that as far as many people were concerned, he was only second best to Sendo. " You're...Better on court. People like you better than they like me. Hanamichi likes you more. That may be the way that things are now, but I swear on my life that I am going to get the better of you some day. Someday, you're going to lose to me, and then you'll know how I feel." 

" The two of us are not in some sort of competition, you know, Rukawa." Sendo pointed out, slightly taken aback by all the things that he had just said. He had known that the younger boy considered him a rival but had never realized just how badly Rukawa wanted to beat him. " Why can't the two of us just get along? God knows that I've tried! I've tried my very hardest ever since our parents got together! I was thrilled when I found out that the two of us would be brothers. I thought it would be great having you around all the time, that we could get to know each other more. But you always just had to let your pride get in the way of everything. You always just thought about getting the best of me and you wouldn't even try. Now you're angry at me because I fell for the greatest guy in the world, who also happens to feel the same way about me! How could I have known about the way you felt for Hana? You never did anything to indicate the slightest interest." 

" I told you that I don't want to talk about it..." Rukawa snapped, pushing past Sendo and out of the doorway. But the older boy followed him persistently. 

" But we have to talk about it! Otherwise, nothing will have been solved. I'm sick of the way that you're acting, Rukawa. Do you realize how hard you've made everything on me? My moving here, going to a new school. Not to mention Hanamichi." Sendo trotted down the stairs after the boy, who still did not acknowledge anything he said, choosing to act as though he couldn't hear anything at all." I've put up with you all this time. Why can't you just give me a few minutes to talk instead of running away the moment things get a little too tough for you, hey? Is that what you always do? Do you always run away once things get a little messy? That's not the way you are on court. On court you face your problem." 

" On court. Off court," Rukawa whirled around, his blue eyes blazing. All the pent up anger within him for the last few months finally surfacing, " You're always the problem. It was bad enough having to cope with you on the basketball courts. Now you're even at _my_ house, invading _my_ space and just generally ruining my whole life..." 

Sendo was outraged. " What about _you_ then, dammit? What about you, Rukawa? Who was it that tried to sabotage my chances with Hanamichi?" 

Rukawa ignored this. " You could have had any other guy that you wanted, Sendo. Why did it have to be him?" 

" For the same reason that you fell for him, Rukawa." 

Rukawa fixed him in his glare for a while, before going on his way once more. He stalked down the corridor, Sendo at his heels. He pushed the door to the family room open. He needed to the duffle bad which he had dumped there the day before. The spiky haired boy slammed the door shut behind him and leaned against it, effectively trapping Rukawa inside with him, along with his sister, who was talking on the phone, and Ito, Rukawa's older brother, who was playing a game on the Play Station with Totoya. Ito looked up curiously. His younger brother hardly ever ventured out of his bedroom whenever he was stuck and home and never liked to set foot in the family room whenever he knew that someone else was in there. 

" Get out of the way." Rukawa snarled as he stood before the door, the bag that he had come in search for finally at hand. 

Sendo shook his head. He had wanted a private conversation with Rukawa, and he obviously wouldn't be getting that with all of their siblings hanging around them, but he would be dammed if he let the guy go right then when there were so many things that the two of them had to get out on the open." No. We're going to talk." 

" Can you guys do that somewhere else?" Sendo Naoko demanded, placing a hand over the speaker of the phone. She glared at the two dangerously. " I'm on the phone, and those two are already making enough noise playing that stupid game of theirs." 

Rukawa returned the glare. " And whose house is this?" 

" Kaede!" Ito exclaimed, shocked by his brother's rudeness. His younger brother got away with a lot of things but he guessed that their father would finally have enough of this when he heard about the way that Kaede was treating their step siblings. Rukawa Tenchi had already warned his youngest child about his behavior towards Sendo. This would be the last straw. " Could you quit being a bastard for a while and just try to act decent?" 

Rukawa ignored him. " Get out of my way, Sendo. I already told you that there's nothing for the two of us to talk about." 

" I want to talk to you." 

" Well, I don't want to hear it." 

" You can't keep on avoiding me you know." Sendo pointed out, ignoring the curious looks that Ito and Naoko, who had finally set the phone down, were giving the two of them. Totoya was still engrossed in the video game, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. " We live in the same house, Rukawa. We're brothers." 

" Step-brothers." The Shohoku player reminded him, " There's a big difference." 

" Well, there shouldn't be. ' Cos like it or not, for better or worse, the two of us are going to be stuck together for pretty much the rest of our lives. We'll have to get all of this straight and I'd like to do that now, while things are still in their early stages." 

" I don't want to talk about this right now, Sendo." 

" I'm sorry about Hanamichi." He pressed on relentlessly, not minding Rukawa. He had lowered his voice so that only the younger boy could catch what he was saying. " I never knew that you felt that way about him. I'm sorry if I make you feel inadequate, because you aren't. You're a great player. Sooner or later, you're going to end up getting as good, and even better than me at basketball. I'm sure of that. Also, I'm sure that people will like you more if you started acting a little less aloof, Rukawa. I'm sorry if by being here, I'm invading your space. But there's nothing that I can do about that. Like I've already said, the two of us are stuck together whether we like it or not. I've been trying to make the best that I can out of the situation even though you've been making it awfully hard for me. I've been trying because I want this so badly to work. I like having a complete family again. I like your father and Ito and even you, most of the times. Your dad makes my mother happier than I've ever seen her in a long, long time and I'm grateful to him for that. Please, can't we just try to get along? I would do anything just to have a bit of peace between the two of us. Anything. This conflict about Hana...Well, I'm asking you to put it behind you. Just try to be happy for me. I like him a lot, Rukawa. I really do. I'm not sorry about the fact that Hanamichi seems to reciprocate my feelings. In fact, I'm incredibly, giddily happy about that, but you know what, if it had been the other way around, if you had been the one that Hanamichi had chosen instead of me, I would have been glad for you. I wouldn't have begrudged you your happiness, like you're doing to me now." 

" That's only easy for you to say, Sendo, because that isn't the case right now, is it? Had it been the other way around, I'm sure that you wouldn't be any more pleasant than I'm being at this moment." 

" Rukawa..." 

" Now let me go. You got what you want. I listened to you didn't I?" 

Realizing that he could do no more, Sendo stepped out of the way and allowed the younger boy to pass.   


~**~ 

" Hello, Hiro-kun..." Sendo made a pathetic attempt at a smile as the front door to the large, well appointed house was thrown open and Koshino appeared before the open doorway. 

" Kira-kun?" Koshino peered out at him quizzically, noting his rather disheveled state and the fact that he was all sweaty and panting for breath. 

" Ne, Hiro-kun. I'm sorry that I appeared here all of the sudden without a warning or anything. I was gonna call you and tell you that I was coming but I sorta forgot. And then I thought that I would just call you on my way here but then it turned out that I left my cell phone at home. I guess that I could have used one of those pay phones but then I wasn't really thinking and...and..." Realizing that he was blabbing nonsense, Sendo took a deep breath and went on, somewhat more calm. "I just needed to see you. I hope I'm not being a bother." 

" Don't tell me you were stupid enough to walk all the way here..." 

" Um...Well...Yeah. I walked. I think. I don't really remember. I was going over a few things..." Sendo stammered, rather flustered. He ran the back of his hand across his flushed face in order to wipe off the sweat. " I...well. Something sort of just happened and I needed someone to talk to...At first I thought that maybe I could go to Kogure but then I realized that he and Mitsui were probably out on a date so then I thought I could go to you..." 

" You better get inside then. You look like shit." Koshino told him, as blunt as he ever was before. " Anyways, you can stay here for the night. Or I can get the driver to bring you home later on, if you like. It'd be no bother..." He added quickly, as Sendo began to protest about this. Koshino led him into the luxuriously furnished home, calling out to his mother that Sendo had come over for a visit. When Mrs. Koshino had finished telling him how glad she was to him again, they went into Koshino's bedroom, Sendo flopping down onto the large bed while Koshino pulled over a chair beside him. 

The Ryonan player listened carefully, once in a while asking questions about the situation, as Sendo poured his whole heart out about everything. He told his best friend and former lover all about how miserable Rukawa was making everything for him, how he had tried to sabotage things between him and the redhead. And then how it had eventually come out that Rukawa was actually in love with Hanamichi too. 

" I don't know what to do..." Sendo finally concluded, one hand absently massaging his throbbing temple. " Hanamichi means so much to me. The moment that I first saw him, Hiro, that very first moment that I first laid eyes on him in the practice game that we played against them before, I already knew that there was something in him that I've always looked for. When I eventually got to know him, I became even more sure that he was the one that was meant for me. I know that sounds so cliché and everything, but that's the way I felt. I felt as though I could spend the rest of my life with him without getting sick of him. The more I got to know him, the more things I found out about him that made him even more precious in my eyes. But then again, there's my new family. You should see my mom now, Hiro. She's so happy! I've never seen her like this before. Not since my dad died. Tenchi-san is a great guy, he treats me, Totoya and Naoko like his very own children. Hell, Totoya's even started to call him daddy! Ito is the big brother that I've always wanted. Bottom line is, the only thing that's ruining everything is the fact that until now, Kaede hasn't seemed to be able to accept us. That's the thing that's causing so much tension at home. It bothers my mom and Tenchi and I can't help feeling guilty. And now, things sure aren't going to get any better between me and Kaede as long as this thing with Hanamichi is still hanging between the two of us..." 

" So what are you saying?" 

" I'm saying that I can't have a nice, conflict free relationship with Kaede as long as there's still Hanamichi at the side." Sendo heaved a loud sigh. " But the problem is, that I want both. The perfect family _and_ my dream guy. Selfish of me, huh?" 

Koshino did not comment on this last question. He scratched his chin absently as he tried to grasp everything that Sendo had just told him. This was a rather messy situation that his old friend was in and he was suddenly damn glad that his mother had not yet remarried after she had separated from his father and that his father lived far, far away in England so he didn't have to deal with psychotic young step brothers like Rukawa Kaede. " First of all, Sendo, I don't think that's selfish at all. You of all people deserve both those things after all that hell that you went through after your father's death..." That had been a particularly difficult time in Sendo's life, he knew, even though they hadn't even met each other back then. Sendo, who had always been expressive about his feelings, had told Koshino all about it when the two of them had still been going out. The spiky haired boy had only been twelve years old when his father had gotten involved in a scandal about some discrepancies in the accounting of the bank that he had been the President of. Stressed out, tired of all of the legalities and thinking that his career would never survive the scandal, Sendo Akito had gone into the bathroom of their home one day, just as Akira had been readying himself for school, and had used his revolver to commit suicide. It had been Akira who had first discovered the body of his father. " But I can see why you're feeling confused. You feel that you have to choose. That you can't get both of these things at the same time. I tend to agree with you, because from the way that you describe Rukawa Kaede, he seems to me to be a vindictive little bastard who wont rest until he makes everyone around him as miserable as he is. So on one hand, there's Sakuragi Hanamichi. The guy that you feel could possibly be your soul mate. I don't think I have to tell you how hard it is to find someone like that these days. Hell, look at me. I'm still searching, goddamit. You, the Hentai King, somehow managed to beat me to it. On the other hand, you also want to have the family that you've always longed for. But Rukawa just won't give you any peace because of poor, Sakuragi who is unwittingly the cause of all of your troubles." 

" That's it exactly!" 

" Have you tried talking to Rukawa? Telling him that Hanamichi seems to care for you too and that his meddling wouldn't even do him any good because as far as you can tell, Hanamichi has no feelings for him other than sheer loathing?" 

" I wouldn't include that sheer loathing part. That's just mean, reminding him of that." 

" Oh, yeah, Sendo. As if you should worry about being mean to the poor, defenseless Rukawa. 

" Even the Ice Prince has feelings!" Sendo pointed out. 

" As do you! So he should just quit being such a damn bastard and let you be. You shouldn't have to be asked to make such a choice." 

" But I have to..." Sendo shut his eyes tightly as though this would somehow help his thinking get clearer. " I have to. And I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do. Do I give it a go with Hanamichi? Or do I just let go of him, let Rukawa have him if Hanamichi would want that, and hope that the guy comes around when he gets what he wants and gives me a bit of peace at home." 

" Either way, you would be losing something." 

" Which is more important, Koshino? My family or my love life?" 

" You shouldn't be asking me. You should be making this decision on your own." Koshino didn't want to meddle too much. He didn't want to be blamed if Sendo made the wrong choice because of him. He wanted the guy to be happy. Why couldn't Rukawa Kaede just let him be? 

" If it were you, Koshino-kun, what would you do?" 

Koshino shrugged, thinking this over. " You're stuck with your family for the rest of your life, Sendo. And you're going to be miserable if you have a bad relationship with your family members. On the other hand, with a boyfriend, you're taking a big risk. You never know how long the guy will be with you. Or if he's worth it."   


" So you would choose to put your family first?" 

" If I were in the same position, yes. Isn't that the way that the Japanese and Chinese culture are? Family first before yourself. Of course, the times are different now. Values have changed and what I stand for may be considered a concept that is a bit out of date..." 

" I don't think it's out of date..." Sendo sighed, his next course of action suddenly becoming crystal clear. " Family first before yourself. That makes perfect sense. That was always what they said at school. Never bring dishonor to the family name...That was what pushed my dad to kill himself, I think. The fact that he thought he had shamed out family with his mistakes...I wouldn't have cared about the shame. I could have lived with all of that if he had still been with us...Always do what is best for the family...That's what mom always used to say. I guess I just have to be a good boy and listen to my mother then, don't I? That way, maybe I can have some peace...I'm just so tired of the constant fighting with Rukawa, Koshino-kun. So tired. I just want all of this over with..." 

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	10. Part Ten

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Ten 

" I don't know how you could have let yourself get talked into something like this, Mitsui." Kogure fixed his squirming boyfriend under a none too loving glare. The way that the brown haired boy was looking at him, and the fact that he was calling him by his family name instead of his usual, loving 'Sashi-kun' alerted Mitsui to the fact that he was currently not too pleased with him. " Couldn't you have just said no? We have no business meddling in this." 

" I know, Min-kun. That's what I tried to tell Sendo too..." Mitsui informed him rather weakly. He never liked it when Kogure looked at him like that. It made him feel as though he was the scum of the earth to have the most perfect creature in the world ( in his own, rather biased opinion), mad at him. " But he just kept on begging and begging me and begging me. You should have seen him when he was talking to me, Min-kun! He looked so miserable!" 

"If the prospect of breaking things off with Hanamichi makes him so miserable then why the hell is he going along with it? He's just making absolutely no sense!" Kogure let out a little sound of frustration as he beat his fist against his thigh. " Sendo is being ridiculous. He was so ecstatic when Hanamichi agreed on this date, and now he's breaking it off just because of some twisted sense of loyalty towards his family? I agree that he has to somehow work things out with Rukawa or else he'll be miserable for the rest of his life, but not this way! He doesn't have to give up a guy he really cares for just because he wants to satisfy a spoilt little brat..." 

The Shohoku Shooting Guard stared at his companion in amazement. He hastily pushed aside the thought that it really turned him on to see his Min-kun like this, all fiery and pissed off, before commenting," I've never heard you talking about anybody like this before, Min-kun. Never thought I would see the day when you would lose your temper with anyone but me..." 

Kogure took in a few, deep breaths, thinking that Mitsui was right. He had never been the type to start slagging a person off even when angry. He was not about to start now. " I'm sorry, Sashi-kun. It's just that...I know how much Hanamichi meant for Sendo, and I've seen how hard Rukawa has made everything for the poor guy, and I guess I'm just sort of upset that things didn't work out for Sen-chan. He's a nice guy, and I can't think of anyone more deserving of some peace and happiness than him." 

" I know. I wanted those two to get together even more than _you_ did, I think. When I talked to Sendo, I even asked him if he would like me and the old gang to bash some sense into that Rukawa but he said no. He said that he thought there was already enough trouble between the two of them without Hanamichi. He said that he didn't think it would help him any if he set a whole bunch of gangsters after the guy. That nothing could help him anymore." Mitsui scowled darkly at this. He had rather thought that a few minutes with him and Tetsuo, and the threat of more to come if he ever dared to mess with Hanamichi and Sendo again, would get that stupid Rukawa to see things their way. 

" So what you're saying is that poor Sendo has pretty much given up on the guy?" 

The short haired boy shrugged. That was the impression that he had gotten a few hours ago when he had spoken to Sendo...   


~**~ A few hours before ~**~ 

Mitsui whistled softly under his breath as he trudged down the road on his way home. He was in a great mood that day, having just managed to increase the amount in his wallet by several thousand yen through playing one on one games against some guys that he had found in the street court. Guys who had not been aware of the fact that he was a star player for the Shohoku team. Each one had been led like sheep to the slaughter and thanks to them, he now had enough money to get something really nice for his Min-kun. He would have to keep his side-line job a secret from his love though. He didn't think Kogure would approve his racketeering money from some naive little Junior High kids. 

So what should he get his Min-kun then? A book? But then he didn't exactly know what kind of book the guy liked...Kogure sometimes told him about the things that he was currently reading but he had never really paid that much attention. He didn't want to go into a record store and buy all the wimpy music that his Ko-chan listened to. There was no way in hell that he would let anyone think that he was some sort of Backstreet boys fan. Maybe a few nice, hentai-ish yaoi manga...They could read them together and get some ideas...He started when a hand suddenly clamped down onto his shoulder. He whirled around quickly. 

It was not a good thing to just come up behind a paranoid ex-gangster and grab him. This, Sendo soon learned as he blinked up at Mitsui who was currently hovering over him worriedly after just sweeping his legs out from under him and afterwards, realizing who he was. " God, Sen-chan! Are you okay? You startled me there..." 

Sendo accepted the hand proferred to him and allowed Mitsui to pull him up to his feet. " Who the hell did you think I was to deserve such treatment from you?" 

" Let's just say that there are some people in an ex- Juvenile Delinquent's life that he should really avoid..." Mitsui told him, not really ready to elaborate. 

" I'll keep that in mind the next time that I want to come up and surprise you when I see you walking down some dark alley..." 

" So, Sen-chan. What brings you all the way here?" Mitsui asked him, remembering that the Rukawa household was quite far away from his own. Come to think of it, Sendo sort of look a bit dishevelled. Nothing at all like his usual cool, always composed self. 

" I need a favor from you, Mitsui-sempai. Please. I know that I haven't known you for that long and I'm really sorry to burden you with something like this but I truly don't think that I can do this..." 

Mitsui noted Sendo's nervousness and the way that he was tugging on a stray lock of his hair uncofortably. He had never been as good as Kogure at reading people and their thoughts but he could see well enough to know that something was up. He just knew it. " What is it, Sendo? Of course I'll try to help you with this if I can..."   


" It's about Hanamichi..." 

" Oh. I get it..." A slow smile spread across Mitsui's handsome face and he told himself how ridiculous he was for immediately jumping to the conclusion that something was very, very wrong. But from the way that Sendo was acting, you would have thought so..." You're feeling a bit nervous about your first date with him and you need some advice, right? Well, you've come to the right person! After all, didn't I manage to snag the greatest guy in this earth, and don't you even dare to contradict that, Sendo. Kogure is the most perfect creature that has ever graced this universe with his presence. Anyways, what do you need some help on then? You need me to help you pick out the clothes to wear? I've got this real cool outfit...Oh, wait. That wouldn't do you any good. You're too freakishly tall to fit into that..." 

" Mitsui-kun, there isn't going to be a date..." 

Mitsui blinked, his words trailing off at this. " What's the matter? Is Hanamichi sick?" 

" No..." 

" He has cold feet then." Mitsui shrugged. That wasn't that big of a problem. " Don't worry about that. He acted up a bit too on our first date. All you have to do is just drag him out of the house. You don't have to worry about being too rough with him or anything. That guy is incredibly tough. You can yank him around the whole time without having to worry about hurting him. After a while, he'll loosen up and start enjoying himself..." 

" Mitsui-kun, this has nothing at all to do with Hanamichi. It's me that's the problem. I want to break it off..." The next part came out so softly that Mitsui wasn't even able to catch any of it. " I need you to break off the date with him. That's the favor that I'm asking for..." 

" You...Uh, want to break it off?" Mitsui repeated, all his previous happiness about the state of his finances suddenly dissapearing with Sendo's announcement. He thought he must have heard wrong, though. When he had last spoken to Sendo about this just the day before, he had been so happy and excited! What could have happened to have changed that? " You're kidding, right? This is what you've been waiting for ever since the day that you first set eyes on the guy! You can't break something like this off! I'll kill you. Kogure will kill you, or at least lame you for the rest of your life. Hanamichi will probably castrate you..." 

"I've made up my mind about this, Mitsui-kun. I'm really sorry to dissapoint you and Kogure-kun but-" 

" It's not dissapointing me and Kogure that you should be worried about, though I am plenty dissapointed right now. Dissapointed and angry. It's Hanamichi that you should be thinking about! Do you know how much that guy was looking forward to this date of yours, Sendo? You can't do this to him! He'll never forgive you!" 

" Don't you think I know that, Mitsui-kun?" Sendo sighed wearily, looking around for some place that he could sit down for a while. He grabbed the older boy's arm and pulled him to the doorsteps of one of Mitsui's neighbors where they both sat. " Hanamichi will probably hate me for the rest of my life. I don't like that thought . But I'm just so tired of everything. I'm so sick things that I would do just about anything to get a bit of peace for myself. Even if it means giving up something that means so much to me..." 

" I am going to hazard a guess and say that this has something to do with that Rukawa Kaede..." 

" And your guess is right..." 

" There are ways to take care of stupid, meddling fools like those, you know, Sendo." Mitsui informed him, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. " This is what we'll do, all right. Just give me a few hours to get Tetsuo and the old gang together. Then tell Rukawa that you'll meet him by the pier so that the two of you can talk. I'm sure me and the guys can change his views with a bit of persuasion..." 

" I appreciate the fact that you're trying to help me out so much, Mitsui-kun, but I really don't think that that would be wise. I think that my way is just the better thing for me to do..." 

" You're going to give up Hanamichi just like that?" 

" Against my better judgement, yes." 

" Then you couldn't have cared for him as much as you thought you did." Mitsui pointed out. " If you really cared for someone, as you said you do Hanamichi, then you would fight for him. Through anything. Not just give him up the moment things get a little rough." 

" But things just aren't a _little rough_." Sendo protested, knowing how weak he must sound. " Things are an all out hell hole for me right now! And I just don't think that I can cope with much more. God knows I've tried but I really just don't feel like trying much anymore." 

"In other words, you've just given up." 

" If you want to put it bluntly, yes." 

" You don't love Hanamichi. You said you did, but you don't. Not really." 

"How can you say that? Especially after everything that I've been through?" Sendo demanded. He had thought that he might at least get a bit of support from Mitsui, the two of them having grown quite close ever since Sendo had started studying at Shohoku. But right now, it didn't look as if that was so. Maybe he had been wrong in assuming that he could ask the guy for some help. 

" Do you think I love Kiminobu?" 

" Hell, Mitsui. Even the most dense person in the world would be able to see that, just from the way that the two of you are whenever you're together!" 

Mitsui nodded in complete agreement to this. " It wasn't just smooth sailing from the start, Sendo-kun. We had to straighten out a lot of things between us. There was my less than savoury past, for one thing, that sort of put a damper on things, and once we got over that, we had those gay-bashing people to contend with. Until now the two of us sometimes still have problems. But the points is that we never gave up. Not once. The two of us kept trying, and look what we have with each other now. If we had given up, then we would have been missing such a lot. Who knows what you can have with Hanamichi, Sendo? Maybe you can have what I have right now with Kogure. Isn't that what you told us you wanted once? You'd be giving the chance of that up by doing that. Do you really want that?" 

" No." 

" Then why are you doing this?" 

"Because maybe I'm not like you, Mitsui-kun. Maybe I'm not the type of person who puts his love life first before everything. I can't. I can't afford to. Not when I still have my family to think of." Sendo shrugged, drawing his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms about his knees. "I don't know if I've told you this before, Mit-chan, but I've had to be the man of the family ever since my dad killed himself. I've always had to do everthing for my mom and my brother and sister and I've never minded. I still don't mind. Why do you think that I try so hard in everything that I do? School, basketball? I'd do anything for them so that they'll be happy, and they're sort of happy now with the Rukawa family, but Kaede is making things difficult for them. If I can stop that, then everything will be perfect. I've told you about the way that Rukawa feels about Hana-kun." 

" And you think that the best way to get Rukawa to leave you alone is to lay off Hanamichi." 

" Exactly. I'm willing to give anything up as long as it helps." 

"And what if Rukawa isn't satisfied with that, then?" Mitsui demanded. The idea seemed stupid to him. Ridiculous. Why should the way that Rukawa felt about this affect Sendo in any way? He should just go ahead with things. Who cared about Rukawa and his feelings? It wasn't as though he had ever given any consideration to _Sendo's_ feelings before. "What if he decides that it pisses him off that you're better than him on the court? Would you give basketball up then?" 

" No..." 

" So what you're saying is that you love basketball more than you do Hanamichi..." 

" No!" Sendo protested, not liking having his feelings about Hanamichi belittled and made to seem unimportant. " How can you say something like that, Mitsui? I think I have my priorities straight." 

" That's pretty obvious from the way that you're putting the whims of a spoilt little brat before your happiness and Hanamichi's own..." Mitsui commented sarcastically. 

" It's not Rukawa that I'm doing this for. I'm just hoping that he'll be somewhat easier on me and my brother and sister once the tension about this whole Hanamichi thing is gone and over with..." 

" This is a stupid move..." Mitsui grumbled. Sendo's face fell at his words and he was immediately sorry. It couldn't have been very easy for Sendo to have come up with this decision and so he guessed that he should be at least a little bit supportive in spite of the fact that he was very much against the whole thing. But that was what Kogure would do if he was here. He would try to help Sendo out, being the sweet, lovely angel that he was, and Sendo _had_ mentioned something about a favor, hadn't he? " You said something about needing a favour from me?" 

Sendo started at the mention of this. He had sort of forgotten about the whole thing after having just poured his heart out. Besides, after a bit of thought and Mitsui's adamant disapproval of his plans, he didn't think it was appropriate to ask something like this of him. " No. Never mind about it..." 

" You've got to be kidding me, man. It can't be _nothing_ if you bothered to come walk all the way over to my neighbourhood. Just tell me what it is. While I still feel bad about blowing up about your decision..." 

" I need you to be the one to tell Hanamichi that the date is off..." 

Mitsui blinked. " Are you being serious?" 

Sendo gave him a small, hopeful smile. " Yes..." 

" Have I ever done anything to make you hate me, Sendo-kun?" 

" Er...No..." 

" Then why the hell would you want to send me off to my death?!?" 

" I'm not sending you to your death. I just think that Hanamichi would receice it better if it came from you?" 

" And where the hell did you get such and idea?" 

" I thought that maybe he would take it better from you...Please, Mitsui-kun. Just do this for me. I don't think I can do it myself..." Sendo admitted, wringing his hands in front of him in his agitation. " I'll break down and lose the nerve if I had to face him myself. Please, Mitsui-kun..." 

Mitsui was about to tell him that there was no way in hell that he would be able to get him to do something like that when he saw the pleading look on the younger boy's face. A look that no one in this world, so far, had ever been able to resist. " Dammit, all right." He finally agreed, thinking that Sendo had suffered through enough as it was. " I'll do it. Then Hanamichi will kill me. That is, if Kogure doesn't kill me first for agreeing to do something like this..." 

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	11. Part 11

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Eleven   


~**~ 

Without a word, Mitsui sat himself down onto the ground beside Hanamichi, his face grim. It was already very late at night but after he had promised Sendoh that he would take care of things for him, Mitsui couldn't sleep. He had gone out for a walk, not bothering to get the permission of his parents, knowing that they wouldn't let him go out this late what with his past and all, and had ended up at the little apartment building that Sakuragi lived in with his elder brother. He had gone up to the apartment, knowing that the Sakuragi boys tended to keep strange hours, and asked for the redheaded freshman. He had been told that Hanamichi was still out practicing, so he had gone out to the nearest street court and had found the freshman there, sitting by the side of the court and gulping down water from a bottle. 

Hanamichi was, needless to say, very surprised to see him. The Mitsui household was quite a few blocks away after all and he wasn't used to late night visits from the older boy. Therefore, that sort of gave him the impression that something was wrong, very wrong. Mitsui looked…apprehensive. As though he was about to do something that he wasn't looking forward to. " What are you doing here, Micchy? And don't say that you were just in the neighborhood because I know that you would just be lying. You have no excuse to be here unless you were looking for me." 

Mitsui shrugged. " I was." 

" Oh." Hanamichi pursed his lips thoughtfully as he twisted his neck to get a better view of his senior's profile. Mitsui had his legs drawn up, his chin resting wearily on his knees. He looked worn out, so Hanamichi handed him his water bottle so that he could drink. " Uh…could you tell me why you were looking for me? I know that this isn't some sort of social call. It's too late for that. Did you get into some sort of trouble with Kogure? If that's the case, I don't really think that I'm the best person to talk to. I don't have much experience in the relationship front…" 

" It's not about me and Kogure. It's more…about you." Mitsui admitted, fiddling around with the lid of the water bottle. This was awkward. But he had promised. He had told Sendoh that he would take care of this for him and he always kept to his word. Always, even back when he had been a gangster. And despite of his reservations, he had also promised Sendoh that he would not anymore mention Rukawa's involvement in things. So he wouldn't, despite of the fact that he thought that it was important for Hanamichi to know. After all, wouldn't it make things much easier for the freshman to accept things if he at least had a reason as to why Sendoh was giving things up this early on? It would hurt the guy bad enough for the budding relationship to be broken off like this without being left to wonder about why he had been rejected. 

" Right. Okay. So it's about me. I sort of figured that out already, what with the way that you're acting. To tell you the truth, you're beginning to freak me out. I'm starting to think that I won't like what you're about to tell me, but it's not going to be that bad, is it?" Hanamichi's uneasy chuckling stopped abruptly when Mitsui made no move to reassure him that no, it wouldn't be bad. That he had just been fooling around, trying to see how nervous he could make the redhead if he acted all weird. 

Mitsui just draped an arm around the redhead's shoulder, a small smile on his lips. " You're a great guy, you know that, Sakuragi? You are a really, really great guy. And of course, a guy like you only deserves the very best in everything." 

Hanamichi raised an eyebrow at this. Mitsui had never been in the habit of heaping him with compliments. He was beginning to become very, very nervous. What the hell was making the older boy act like this? It was as though Mitsui was softening him up for a big blow. As though Mitsui was telling him about all the horrible things going on in the world before he told him that he was going to die in a few days to make things seem a bit sweeter. Micchy must have known something that he didn't. " You know something that I don't, don't you? Micchy…am I…am I dying?" Hanamichi asked hesitantly. 

The senior blinked. "Dying?" 

" The way you're acting I…" 

Mitsui shook his head adamantly, hurriedly calming the freshman. " No! You're not dying! I was just saying that you deserved the best in everything…that…well…that you deserved a guy who would love you and appreciate you. Someone like Kogure." 

" Are you giving me Kogure?" 

" Touch my Min-kun and you die." Mitsui growled out of reflex. He snorted at his own stupidity, shaking his head at how possessive he could get when it came to things concerning the brown-eyed vice-captain of the Shohoku basketball club. " Um…no. Sorry for over reacting like that." 

" That's okay." Hanamichi shrugged, a smirk on his lips. It really was quite sweet how the two seniors were with each other. " I'm used to you and your fanatical obsession with keeping Kogure yours. In fact, I'm sorta surprised you haven't tried peeing on him to mark him as your territory." The redhead snickered. He always tended to make light of serious situations to make things easier, it was a defense mechanism that he used whenever he felt uncomfortable. That or letting his fists do the talking for him. 

" I don't think Kogure would let me pee on him…" Mitsui mumbled, pretending to consider the idea. " He's too much of a hygiene freak." 

" On the other hand, it's always the quiet ones that are the kinkiest in bed…" Hanamichi pointed out, winking suggestively. 

" How would you know, Virgin?" Mitsui taunted him, digging his elbow into the redhead's ribs playfully. 

" Oh, yeah. This coming from the guy who hasn't even managed to convince his boyfriend of four months to let him slip him a bit of tongue." Hanamichi retorted, sticking his own tongue out at a grinning Mitsui. 

" I've gone a lot further with Kogure than you think!" 

Hanamichi gasped. " You mean he finally let you hold his hand?" 

" Idiot." Mitsui snorted, pulling on a handful of Hanamichi's thick red hair in a gesture of affection. 

" Seriously though, Micchy. I hope you know just how lucky you are with the Megane-kun even if the guy is a bit of a prude." 

" You don't have to remind me." Mitsui agreed. He thought about that every day, every time that he laid eyes on Kogure or saw him smiling. With every second that he spent with Kogure, he was reminded of just how lucky he was to have found him. He didn't need Hanamichi telling him how lucky he was to have found something that many people spent most of their lives searching for this early on. He already knew, and he understood the value of his Kimi-kun. 

" Man…" Hanamichi shook his head. " I've been thinking lately, you know. About when I'll be able to find someone that I can be with. Sendoh was talking about it just this afternoon…when he…when he asked me out…" The freshman's face flushed attractively at the memory. Mitsui liked this less and less. He had never seen Hanamichi like this. He was…happier than he could ever remember seeing him, more contented with things. As though he had finally found something that he had been longing for. Mitsui could take a pretty educated guess as to what this thing was. " I think I might have. I hope I have. My gut is telling me so…" 

" Gut feelings can sometimes be wrong…" Mitsui interjected, hating to burst the freshman's bubble but knowing that he had to do so. He didn't think he would ever forget the look of surprise and hurt that flashed across Hanamichi's face. He had expected Mitsui to be more supportive. After all, the guy was his friend. " You…can't possibly know something like that this early on. I mean, don't you think you're rushing things a little, assuming that Sendoh is the one for you? There's a big chance that this whole thing won't work out. That this is just a passing thing." After having this conversation with Hanamichi, Mitsui wouldn't at all have been surprised if the redhead ended up hating him. He was even starting to hate himself for all of the things that was coming out of his mouth. This was unfair. Hanamichi and Sendoh should be left alone, not torn apart just so that Sendoh could win the favor of some guy. Mitsui used to respect Rukawa because of his prowess on court, but he couldn't say that much of that respect was still left now, after seeing the younger boy's blatant disregard for Sendoh's feelings, not to mention Hanamichi's own. The guy was not only succeeding in making his stepbrother's life miserable. He was also affecting Hanamichi's own happiness.   
" I don't get you, Micchy." Hanamichi told him, scratching his head in his puzzlement. " Just a few hours before, you were one of the people that encouraged me to try things with Sendoh out. Why this sudden change? If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were trying to turn me off the guy for some really weird reason." 

" Hanamichi-" 

The redhead interrupted him before he could continue. " I don't understand why you would want to do that. Sendoh…he's a great guy. I…think I might see a future in him. I know that that sounds a bit weird…I'm only sixteen years old, it's far too early for me to think about such things, right? But remember when we were talking about you and Kogure before? When you were telling me about how you just knew, without any reason at all, that this was the one? This was the guy that you were going to hold onto for as long as you possibly could? I asked you how you could just jump to that sort of conclusion, and you told me that you just had to trust your gut feeling. You had to trust your first impulse. You said that that's what I should do too, if the time should eventually come, that you would support me wholeheartedly if ever that does happen. That's what I'm doing now. And I'm sure you must know how scary this is for me, how much I need your support right now…" 

" I'm sorry. I know…and I'm sorry." 

Hanamichi tipped his head thoughtfully to one side as he examined his teammate's bowed head closely. Mitsui must have some sort of reason to act like this. Micchy was his friend, one of the closest that he had ever made and one that he would cherish for life, despite of their constant disagreements and scuffles. " You know something that I don't, don't you? Otherwise, I don't think that you would act this way. I mean, hell, Micchy! You were one of the Sendoh for Hanamichi fan boys a while back, weren't you? Just spit it out! What's you're problem? I know that you're not trying to break Sendoh and I up because you want to get back together with me. It would be just plain lunacy if you left Kogure for that! I'm telling you right now! Kogure is the one for you, no questions about that." 

" Hanamichi, there are a lot of things going on with Sendoh that you don't even know anything about." 

" I'm not claiming to know his whole life history, Micchy. That's the whole point of going out on a date. So that I can get to know more about him." Hanamichi pointed out breezily. 

" There isn't going to be a date." 

The redheaded freshman blinked, a strange half smile on his face. " What are you talking about, Micchy? Sendoh asked me out just this afternoon." He frowned. " Don't tell me he's gotten sick or anything! He hasn't, has he?" 

" No. He's not sick…" 

" So this is your idea of a joke?" 

" I'm not joking. Do you really think that I would joke about something that is so important to you? I mean, sure. I've played plenty of tricks on you before, but you know me well enough to know that hitting below the belt like this is just not my style." After the redhead had examined Mitsui's dead serious face for a few seconds, he came to terms with the fact that Mitsui really and truly had not been joking. He had been hoping to see the older boy's face breaking out into a smile, for Mitsui to tell him that he had just been fooling around, but he was disappointed. 

Hanamichi's face fell, but he quickly schooled his expression into a carefree one, so as not to show just how deeply hurt he was. " Why? Did something come up?" 

" You could say so…" 

" What?" 

Mitsui shrugged, avoiding Hanamichi's blazing brown eyes. He felt so sorry for the younger boy. It was obvious from the way that he had talked that he had really been looking forward to being with Sendoh, with spending more time with him and getting to know him better. " As I said, he has a lot of things going on with his life right now, Hanamichi. He's not having the easiest time adjusting to living with a whole new family and all…" 

" Hey, Micchy. I think I deserve to know why the hell he's backing out." Hanamichi snapped, his hands clenching into fists by his side. He had been so stupid. He had actually thought for a while there that something might actually come out of this whole thing with Sendoh. He had obviously been wrong. " I want to know why. Why would he build me up like this just to forget everything like that? Is this his idea of fun? Is fooling around with someone's feelings how he amuses himself?" 

Though right now, he was also feeling pretty down on Sendoh, Mitsui couldn't resist the urge to defend his friend. " Sendoh isn't like that. You know that as well as I do!" 

" What the fuck do we really know about Sendoh, hey Micchy? Can you tell me that? I thought he was a nice guy. I thought he was great. I thought I might actually get to love him if I got to know him better but obviously, I was wrong…This is just…It's just bad what he's doing…" Hanamichi shouted, unable to suppress the anger and hurt that he was feeling, he got to his feet, glowering down at the still seated Mitsui. " He shouldn't…he shouldn't mess around with someone like this! He had me hoping, all right? I admit that. I was a fool and I actually thought that maybe Sendoh could be the one. He shouldn't start something that he doesn't plan on following up on! It's just cruel!" 

" He has his reasons!" 

" And I want to know what those reasons are! Tell me! Fuck it, Mitsui!" Hanamichi was taken by the sudden desire to pound the senior into pulp but he settled for kicking at a pebble by his feet, a poor substitute. " I don't like the way that he's handling this at all, Mitsui! Not at all! I could have accepted him breaking things off, really. But did he have to do it through you? Couldn't the bastard have faced me himself so that he could do some explaining? Did he think that he would be let off a lot easier if you were the one to do the job for him?" 

" Hanamichi-" 

" No Mitsui! Do you know how embarrassing this is for me? Being told like this? Knowing that you, of all people, have been dragged into the whole mess? That you probably know more about Sendoh and his reasons than I do?" Hanamichi looked at his friend pleadingly. " Please. Just tell me why. Please." 

Mitsui closed his eyes. In his mind, he could see the friendship with Hanamichi that he had worked so hard to build up suddenly crumbling to the ground. " I'm sorry, Hanamichi. I can't." 

" Like hell you can't! You've got a mouth! Use it, damn you!" 

" Try to understand Sendoh…" 

" Try to understand Sendoh?" Hanamichi repeated disbelievingly, wondering how much more insensitive Mitsui could be. " Why should I? Why should I make an effort to try and understand that bastard when it seems as though he didn't even spare a single thought to think about how I would react to his doing this? Tell me what the hell you want me to do! Do you want me to go to Sendoh and tell him that everything is okay? That I wasn't hurt by what he did? Because I can't do that, Mitsui! I'm not Rukawa. I can't bottle up all my feelings inside. I am hurt. I am hurting like hell right now because I cared. I really did." 

" Sendoh did too…" Mitsui said softly, hoping that this would console him. This was the wrong thing to say though. It only succeeded in infuriating the freshman even more. 

" He sure has a funny way of showing how much he cares, huh?" Hanamichi commented, grabbing his things and walking away briskly, paying no attention whatsoever to Mitsui's pleas for him to slow down and wait for him. 

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	12. Part Twelve

Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction   
  
  
  
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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction  
  
Family Ties   
Part 12   
  
~**~   
Something was going on. Akagi could feel it and yet, for the life of him,   
he couldn't figure out what the hell the matter was with his teammates.   
All of them, with the exception of Ryota, himself and the non-starting   
members of the team, were acting strangely. He had been standing by   
Anzai-sensei for the past thirty minutes or so observing them, and quite   
frankly, he was concerned with what he saw.   
Mitsui's shots were wild and erratic, making it seem as though the   
scar-faced player was aiming for air and not the basket. He could tell   
that his fellow senior was beginning to get frustrated by the way the   
ex-gangster was agitatedly rubbing the scar on his chin. The source of   
that agitation, Akagi noticed, seemed to be Hanamichi. And Hanamichi was   
the one that troubled Akagi the most, quite frankly. The freshman just   
wasn't acting like he usually did, and this puzzled him.   
He was usually the picture of enthusiasm at practices. He was the one who   
urged everybody on, taunting Mitsui or Rukawa whenever they made a wrong   
move. But there was none of that right then. Hanamichi was practicing his   
dribbling by one corner with Ayako with no complaints, no smart-ass   
comments. Something that Akagi and the rest of the team weren't accustomed   
to. The freshman should have been at his element right then, what with the   
way that Mitsui, Rukawa, and not to mention Sendoh, were playing, but not   
a word came out of him. Even the Sakuragi Guntai members were obviously   
concerned as they hovered about by the open doorway of the gym. Kogure was   
alternately hovering between Hanamichi and Sendoh, apparently having   
forgotten that he had his own exercises to attend to.   
Sendoh's attitude also worried Akagi. He had just been acting wrong the   
whole day. The senior could find no other way to describe him. He looked   
worn out and was moving sluggishly in a way that Akagi had never seen him   
move before. He hadn't seen the boy smile or give an encouraging comment   
when needed, which was very unusual since Sendoh was usually the Prince of   
Pep himself, and he had even snapped at Rukawa once when the freshman had   
glared at him after blocking one of his fade away shots. Sendoh had just   
seemed to lose his cool, telling Rukawa that he couldn't get his way in   
everything in life, like he seemed to think he could.   
Sighing, Akagi decided that they were going to get rapidly nowhere if   
everything went on the way that they were. So he called for a   
thirty-minute break before the next half of the practice started. He made   
his way to the drinking fountains situated outside the gym, gesturing for   
Kogure to join him so that he could try and get the whole story out of his   
best friend.   
  
~**~   
Usually, when Akagi called for the customary break, Rukawa, unlike the   
rest of his teammates, utilized the time to practice his shots, not   
wanting to lose his momentum. Today though, he decided against doing that.   
He wanted to observe the people around him, more specifically; he wanted   
to know what was going on with the redhead because he was really acting   
quite strangely. Strangely enough so that even he, a not too observant   
person at the best of times, noticed that something was wrong. So he sat   
himself down on the nearby bleachers and pretended to have dozed off while   
he surreptitiously watched everything going on around him under his   
lowered dark lashes. He had found out long ago that he could discover a   
lot more about things if he pretended to be dead to the world while   
actually observing all that was going on.   
It felt…strange for Hanamichi to be acting all reserved and quiet like   
this. And since he had been so busy watching the redhead for any signs of   
what the matter with him might be, Rukawa's own performance had suffered,   
much to his disgust. But he noticed that it wasn't only him that had been   
affected by Hanamichi's lackluster self. Mitsui looked as though he was   
just about ready to kill someone and had been giving him death glares the   
whole day. Kogure was on hyperactive "   
I-care-for-you-and-am-here-if-you-need-me" mode and had been avoiding his   
gaze the whole time at practice, openly snubbing him when he had been   
giving out drinks just a few minutes before, and Sendoh was on edge,   
seeming to be nervous, high-strung and easily upset.   
The thing that struck Rukawa the most though, was the fact that Hanamichi,   
Sendoh, Mitsui and Kogure were not acting like the one, big happy family   
that they usually were each practice when they would all be gathered at   
one corner with Gori and Ayako, joking around. Usually they could all be   
seen, Mitsui pretending to be humping Hanamichi's leg, Sendoh jokingly   
trying to pull him off, yelling that someone was going to be jealous if he   
went on with that. Kogure would be blushing furiously at his boyfriend's   
behavior muttering excuses about Mitsui's sanity to an amused Ayako while   
Akagi would just roll his eyes at their immature behavior. None of that   
familiar routine was going on right then though.   
Mitsui, Hanamichi and Sendoh had not been speaking to each other   
throughout the whole time at practice. They had been avoiding each other   
and even now, were standing apart. Mitsui was sitting by Yasuda at the   
bleachers, growling about something as though he were in an incredibly bad   
mood, which he undoubtedly was in. Hanamichi was sitting quietly at the   
corner where he had been practicing his dribbling; fussing with the laces   
of his shoes, while Sendoh was just…sitting. Staring off into space as   
though he were in deep thought.   
Rukawa really didn't know what was causing all the tension, but if he had   
to take an educated guess, then he would have to say that it had something   
to do with Hanamichi and Sendoh, because they were the ones that were   
acting the strangest. They hadn't spoken to each other the whole day,   
weren't even looking at each other and were obviously taking great pains   
to ignore the presence of the other which was a weird thing to be going on   
for two people who were supposed to like each other a lot, like Sendoh   
claimed they did.   
Maybe Hanamichi had cold feet, Rukawa decided, unable to come up with any   
other hypothesis since he was not one of the most imaginative people   
around. Why should he bother to think over such a thing though? All that   
should matter to him was that Sendoh had backed off from Hanamichi, for   
now at least.   
The dark haired super rookie of the Shohoku basketball club was getting   
rather light headed after all of that practice. He pushed himself up to   
his feet, ignoring Mitsui's glares as he passed by where the scar-faced   
senior was sitting. He needed a drink.   
He was just about to round the corner of the gym to where the water   
fountains were located, when he heard Kogure's familiar voice. He sounded   
troubled, so Rukawa stopped in his tracks, staying out of view.   
" I don't really know if it's wise telling you about this, Akagi. It's   
Sendoh and Rukawa's personal matter…" The bespectacled boy insisted,   
looking incredibly frail and small when compared to their hulking captain,   
who towered over him, glaring at him in a way that Rukawa had never seen   
him do when it came to Kogure. At the sound of his name, Rukawa stiffened.   
He knew that it was morally wrong to eavesdrop but since the two were   
talking about him, shouldn't he have the right to listen in on their   
conversation?   
  
~**~   
" What's the matter, Akagi? What did you want to talk to me about?" Kogure   
Kiminobu asked him as he came to as stand still beside his best friend. He   
ran a hand through his brown hair as he heaved a tired sigh. He couldn't,   
in his six years of playing basketball, ever remember a practice more   
stressful that this one, not in physical terms, but emotionally and   
mentally.   
He had had to keep Mitsui from confronting Rukawa outright, he thought   
that it would be better if Sendoh were the one to do that, if the poor guy   
ever worked up the guts to do so, and even now Kogure was worried that his   
scar-faced lover might get it in his head to do just that in his absence.   
Therefore, he was quite anxious to get his little talk with Akagi over so   
that he could get back to watching over his rather hotheaded loved one.   
" Let's go get a drink outside, shall we?"   
" Uh…no thanks, Akagi-kun. I have my water bottle with Hisashi-kun and if   
you don't mind…" with a nervous little laugh, Kogure tried vainly to   
extricate his wrist from Akagi's tight grasp. He sent a pleading look over   
to Mitsui who, strangely enough, didn't seem to notice it and just went on   
glaring at a sleeping Rukawa as though he would somehow be able to get the   
younger boy to roll over and die just by the strength of his will. It was   
strange how Mitsui always managed to be around to remind people that   
Min-kun was his when Kogure did not welcome his interruptions and yet   
never seemed to be around when he needed him to bail him out from   
something. Unable to do anything against the strength of Akagi short of   
screaming bloody murder to attract the attention of his other team mates   
in the hopes that they would prevent him from being dragged bodily   
outside, he meekly allowed himself to be led outside, cursing genetics and   
the fact that his family line just wasn't built as sturdily as the Akagis   
were.   
Once they got to the cluster of drinking fountains by one side of the gym,   
Akagi finally let go of him. He stood at his full height, glaring down at   
the now rather alarmed Kogure, who was not used to such treatment from his   
best friend. He was used to being adored by everyone after all. He was   
Kogure Kiminobu, for god's sake! The darling of Shohoku High! The one who   
had the title as " The Most Likable Senior" at the yearbook polls in the   
bag. Being under the evil eye that Akagi usually only used on the less   
than cooperative members of the basketball club made him feel rather   
awkward and so, he smiled in the hopes of the smile that the girls in the   
third year class had unanimously voted most beautiful and genuine, would   
clear the air somewhat. " What seems to be the matter, Akagi-kun?"   
The Captain of the Shohoku basketball club smirked, knowing full well what   
his fellow senior was thinking. " Kogure, I'm not Mitsui. You can't melt   
me into a quivering puddle of lovesick goo with just your smile. You   
should know that by now."   
" I wasn't-"   
Akagi pressed on, fixing the much shorter boy under a stern gaze. Kogure   
squirmed, nervously taking off his glasses and proceeding to polish the   
lenses vigorously against his shirt. " You know something that I don't   
Kogure, and as the captain of the team, I think I have a right to know   
about whatever it is that is causing my players to play this damn bad!"   
" They're…not playing that badly…" Kogure lied outright.   
" Not playing badly my ass, Kogure. I think we would be better off   
recruiting their mothers to play for us in the Inter High, at this rate!"   
The bespectacled boy stopped his frantic polishing of his glasses, tipping   
his head thoughtfully to one side. " But Akagi-kun! Hanamichi-kun's mother   
is in Tokyo with his father and Sendoh-kun's mother has a seven-year-old   
to take care of. I don't think she would have the time to practice."   
Akagi sighed. Kogure was one of them now. He was now officially one of the   
blundering idiots that seemed to abound in the Shohoku basketball club. He   
should have known that it would only be a matter of time before his best   
friend would succumb to all the bad influence around him. " That was only   
a joke, Kogure. You know, caustic wit and all?"   
" Oh yes! Of course!" Kogure agreed, nodding his head eagerly. " I see. I   
see."   
For the first time since he had gotten to know Kogure, Akagi was taken by   
the sudden urge to Gori Punch him, just to see if that would bring him   
back to his old senses. " Kogure, will you please just tell me what the   
hell is going on with these guys? I have never seen Hanamichi and Sendoh   
this quiet! Usually those two cause more of a ruckus in practice than the   
whole Shoyo Cheering Squad! And Mitsui. God…Mitsui." Akagi shook his head   
unable to find the words to express his disgust at the three-pointer's   
suddenly lack luster performance. "His shooting today…quite frankly,   
sucks. What did you do? Use up all his stamina last night when the two of   
you went out on a date?"   
Kogure's cheeks reddened. " Akagi!"   
The Shohoku captain shrugged. " Well, that guy isn't very well known for   
his longevity, is he?"   
" It's nothing like that. It's just that…" Kogure sighed. He and Akagi   
were both unaware of the dark haired freshman listening in quietly to   
their conversation. " I don't really know if it's wise telling you about   
this, Akagi. It's Sendoh and Rukawa's personal matter…"   
" Not anymore if it affects the whole performance of the team." Akagi   
corrected him.   
" Akagi, those two have problems. Rukawa isn't exactly making this whole   
family thing easy on Sendoh…"   
" Sendoh's a big boy. He can handle what that freshman can dish out for   
him, I think."   
Kogure shook his head, his disgust evident in his voice as he went on with   
his explanation. " You just wouldn't believe what a spoilt brat Rukawa is.   
You know me, Akagi. I don't usually go around slagging people off. But   
when someone hurts a perfectly nice guys like Sendoh and Hanamichi in such   
a way…"   
Akagi frowned. Kogure was right. He knew that his best friend was just not   
the type to talk about a person like this if he didn't have some sort of   
reason. And Rukawa must have done something really bad to get mild   
mannered Kogure all worked up like this. Rukawa had always been one of the   
bespectacled senior's pet projects. Kogure had believed that someday, he   
would be able to bring the boy out of his sullen shell with some effort.   
But to hear him talking about the freshman now, one would have thought   
that he was the scum of the earth.   
The third, and hidden party of their conversation stiffened at this. All   
right, so he wasn't exactly being an angel when it came to things   
concerning Sendoh, but when had he ever done anything to hurt Hanamichi?   
So he called him names sometimes and even fought with him once in a while,   
but he liked Hanamichi. He would never really seriously hurt the guy.   
" So, do you want the long version, or the short one?"   
Akagi shrugged. " The short one then. We don't really have that much time   
before we have to go back to practice."   
" What if I were to tell you that Rukawa doesn't really hate Hanamichi   
like he seems to? That he actually likes the guy?"   
Rukawa stiffened at this. He didn't like having his deepest feeling   
broadcast to the whole world like this, but what could he do? It wasn't as   
though he could just jump out of his hiding place and demand that his   
Kogure-sempai take shut the hell up and mind his own business for once in   
his miserable little life.   
The Captain of the Shohoku Basketball club smirked. " I would tell you   
that you were crazy. That those two together would be like throwing a   
lighted match into a roomful of gunpowder…"   
" And Sendoh and Hanamichi? Your impression of them?"   
Akagi scratched his head, suddenly wondering what Kogure was getting to,   
pairing that idiotic redhead up with his fellow teammates. " Somewhat   
better, I guess. Sendoh seems to have a lot of patience for that redhead's   
idiocy. He can…bear Hanamichi and his stupidity, I guess."   
Kogure nodded, this had been his sentiment exactly. The reason why   
Mitsui's relationship with the redhead had not worked out was because the   
scar-faced boy had not had enough patience to try and understand Hanamichi   
and his ways, but Sendoh seemed to have an infinite well of it, which made   
Kogure think that he would be the redhead's match. It took quite a lot to   
be able to handle the rather wild freshman after all, and the last thing   
that Hanamichi needed would be to be paired up with someone with a temper   
that was just as combustible as his own, such as Rukawa.   
So Kogure began to recount the whole story of how the fox eyed boy had   
meddled into Sendoh and Hanamichi's affairs. He told Akagi about   
everything leading up to what Mitsui had told him about what had happened   
the night before, when he had gone to break off the date with Hanamichi at   
Sendoh's request.   
Rukawa listened, his face stony, not giving any indication as to the   
turmoil of feeling within him that were suddenly overwhelming him. He   
listened as Kogure went on about how Sendoh had meant so much to   
Hanamichi, how disappointed the redheaded freshman had been.   
The fox eyed freshman suddenly couldn't take any more when Kogure began to   
go on and on about how it was just wrong for Rukawa to tear two people   
apart who were so obviously meant to be together. He just couldn't accept   
it. There was no way that Hanamichi could possibly care that deeply for   
someone like Sendoh! There was just no way. He tried to push aside the   
sudden feeling of guilt that assuaged him as he remembered the miserable   
look on Hanamichi's face when he had first walked into the Shohoku gym and   
laid eyes on Sendoh.   
He hadn't done anything to upset the redhead, Rukawa reassured himself as   
he made his way back to the gym, it was all Sendoh's fault if he had   
decided to just give everything up like this at the slightest sign of   
trouble. Hanamichi's misery was entirely the spiky haired players fault.   
He had had nothing to do with it whatsoever.   
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	13. Part Thirteen

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Thirteen   


He really should have known better than to assume that everything would automatically become all right between him and Rukawa as soon as he broke things off with Hanamichi. After all, you really couldn't tell with that guy. But he had been hoping so badly that it came as a bit of a shock to him when Rukawa still gave him the same cold shoulder treatment as before. It wasn't as though Sendoh expected him to welcome him at the door of their home with his favorite pair of soft, fluffy blue slippers in one hand and a hot cup of tea in the other. But would a 'Hello, welcome home' have killed him? 

His brow furrowed down into an uncharacteristic frown, as he threw his duffle bag carelessly onto the floor. He noted the fact that Rukawa wasn't passed out on his bed as he usually was at that time of the night, and deduced that his father had probably forced him out of his room to spend time with the family. Something that Rukawa seemed to hate doing. 

The younger boy spent most of his time locked up alone in his room whenever he wasn't out in the yard practicing. Usually, Sendoh just found him lying on his bed sleeping or disinterestedly flipping through channels on the T.V. The only time he actually saw Rukawa with some semblance of liveliness was when he was on court or arguing with Hanamichi… 

With a sound of disgust, Sendoh kicked at a stuffed toy shaped like a basketball that Totoya had given him on his sixteenth birthday. There had not been a single second in the day so far that he had not had that redhead in his mind and it was driving him completely insane. Everything, absolutely everything that he saw around him reminded him of Hanamichi. He would hear his seatmate in class cursing over some math problem that he was agonizing over and he would think that Hanamichi could always come up with more creative curses than that. Just that afternoon some of his female classmates had been cooing over some roses that one of their boyfriends had given them and Sendoh had thought to himself that personally, he preferred Sakura flowers because those were so much more beautiful, just like a certain freshman named after those flowers. 

He was completely obsessed. He had admitted that to himself by then. Hanamichi was addictive. Once he was in your life, you wanted to make sure that you kept him in there always. And now, he thought he was beginning to understand Rukawa. He thought he was beginning to see just how deeply the younger boy felt for the redhead now that it seemed as though he wasn't about to get Hanamichi any time soon. Now he could empathize with his younger stepbrother because he knew that he had had completely blown it with the redhead. And like Rukawa right then, he would have done just about anything to make things right, to make Hanamichi his. 

He had paid little thought to Rukawa's feelings for Hanamichi. He had thought them to be nothing serious. But now he realized; who was he to belittle Rukawa's feelings like that, thinking them to be less important than his own just because the younger boy was not as expressive as him when it came to such things? Who was he, or the others, to say that Rukawa cared any less for Hanamichi than he did just because of his inability to show how he felt? After all, the ones who found it hardest to say 'I love you' were usually the ones that meant it the most. 

Sendoh shook his head, a smile that was between mirth and bitterness on his lips. " Oh, you're good, Rukawa Kaede. You're very good. You're actually making me feel guilty now for begrudging you Hanamichi when it was you in the first place that was making things so difficult for me…" 

The spiky haired boy grabbed a sports magazine lying on his bed and proceeded down the stairs to look for his family. He found the kitchen empty, save for a note stuck on the fridge with a smiley face magnet that said that his mother had gone with Tenchi Rukawa to visit some of the neighbors and that she had left dinner in the microwave for them. Knowing full well that his mother's dinners were usually the disgustingly wholesome kinds with lots of green leafy vegetables, Sendoh took a bag of chips from the cupboard instead, deciding that this was a good opportunity for him to gorge himself on the greasy and stroke inducing food that his mother hated but which Tenchi Rukawa loved. 

Munching on a handful of sour cream and onion chips, Sendoh shoved the door to the family room open with a loud bang, attracting the attention of a half dozing Rukawa, who looked away from the game show on the T.V with faint interest. Without a word, Sendoh dropped down onto the couch beside him and held out the bag of chips towards him in offering. " You want?" 

" You wont be able to run around the court any more if you keep on eating that sort of junk." 

Sendoh shrugged. " So I indulge once in a while when I'm stressed. It won't kill me." 

His calculating blue eyes still locked on Sendoh, Rukawa took a handful of the proffered chips. " You poison these?" He demanded, examining one that he had picked out at random. 

" I thought about it. But then I decided, Hell, I'm hungry. I shouldn't waste a bag of perfectly good chips!" Grabbing the remote control that Rukawa had set down onto the couch between the two of them, Sendoh began to flip through the channels, eventually settling on one of the mindless western cartoons that he loved so much. " Where are Naoko and Totoya?" 

" Ito took Totoya to the arcades. Naoko is out on a date. Like you should have been."   
Sendoh stopped his incessant chewing, his mouth dropping open as he turned to face his stepbrother, who wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of the half chewed food. "That's disgusting. I'm sure a lady like your mother must have taught you better than that." 

Sendoh quickly swallowed. " You…uh. You knew about that, huh?" 

Rukawa shrugged, switching the T.V off. " I overheard some stuff from Kogure-sempai. He seems to think I'm a bastard." 

" You are." Sendoh affirmed without really thinking. 

Thankfully, Rukawa chose to just ignore this comment, as he usually did everything else. " You shouldn't have done that, Sendoh. I don't need your pity. I don't want you giving something up just because you felt sorry for me. I hate it when people do that." 

" You're never happy with anything, are you?" Sendoh commented, his face darkening. "I thought you would be happier with the news that I've given up on Hanamichi. Isn't that what you wanted after all?" 

" It was. And I was." 

Sendoh blinked. " At first?" He repeated questioningly, puzzled. What did Rukawa mean by that? Had he decided that he didn't want Hanamichi after all because if that were the case, then he would cheerfully murder him right then and there for making him go through all of that crap for nothing. He tensed in his seat, ready to pounce of Rukawa when the younger boy went on with what he had been saying. 

" I still hate your guts." 

Sendoh snorted. " That's good to know, Rukawa." He knew that it would take a long, long time for him to be able to change his younger stepbrother's attitude towards him. But sooner or later, he hoped that some sort of uneasy truce would spring up between the two of them. It had to. It wasn't as though they had much of a choice. After all, they were stuck with each other indefinitely so they might as well make the best that they could out of the situation. 

" You're just…too perfect for your own good, you know that, Sendoh?" Rukawa murmured, his eyes downcast and trained on the elaborate carpet laid out onto the polished wood floor. It was difficult for him to be saying something like this but it also felt good to finally be letting everything out. 

" Nobody is 'perfect' Rukawa…" Sendoh protested. That had been the last thing that he had expected to hear from his stepbrother. It wasn't everyday that a person who hated your guts informed you of your perfection after all. The way that it came out from the guy though, being 'perfect' didn't seem to be such a good thing. 

" I've always been the number one, you know?" This was said simply, not in a boastful way, as though it was just a simple and well-known fact, which Sendoh guessed it was. "The best that Tomigaoka ever had, the best player in Shohoku. But now…" 

" Now?" Sendoh prompted. 

" Now…I'm not." Rukawa finished simply, his voice low so that the spiky haired boy had to strain his ears to catch his words. " Now…I'm second to you. You're the first thing that people see, they don't notice me anymore and I'm not used to that. I don't know if I'll ever be used to it. But I have to get used to it because you're going to be sticking around from now on, even if I don't want that. That's what Sakuragi told me."   
" Hanamichi? When did you ever talk to Hanamichi?" Sendoh asked, his heart sinking as he realized that Rukawa must have already confronted Hanamichi and confessed everything. Had the redhead accepted him? He probably had, judging from the way that Rukawa was conversing with him right then. He didn't think the guy would be doing that unless he was secure in the knowledge that Sendoh had no more chance. Well, at least now he could maybe hope for some peace around the house. 

" This afternoon. After practice." 

" Oh. Well, congratulations. You must be real happy now." Sendoh forced a smile on his face as he scrunched up the empty bag of chips. He was about to get to his feet so that he could go to their room. He thought that at least he wouldn't plagued with thoughts of Hanamichi with his stepbrother if he was unconscious, unless of course he dreamed of the redhead, which at this point seemed to be quite possible. 

" No. I'm not happy. I've never felt worse in my life." Rukawa stated in a monotone, staring intently into the blank T.V screen. " And I don't want you to think that I hate you any less, because I still loathe you. I loathe you with the same intensity as when you first beat me on court. But I'm not as big a bastard as you people may think I am. I don't ever, ever want to intentionally hurt someone that I love. That's what I've been doing all this time, without my knowing it and I'm sorry for that." 

Sendoh stayed silent, taking a while to ponder over what Rukawa had just told him. " You still hate me, but you're saying that you're sorry?" 

" For Hanamichi. I'm sorry for hurting him. I didn't…I didn't know that he…" Rukawa chose to look up then, his face, for once, housing an openly readable expression of sorrow, of regret. " I didn't know that he cared so deeply about you. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to love a grinning idiot like you." 

" Wait. Let me get this straight. You spoke to him and he said-" 

" I was talking to him. He seemed broken hearted and it just didn't feel right seeing him like that. I asked him why he was acting that way and he told me that he'd just lost someone that he thought he loved…" Rukawa's blue eyes were blazing and it obviously took a lot out of him to be able to force himself to blurt out the next word. " You." 

The spiky haired boy sat there stiffly, letting Rukawa's words wash over him with only one persistent thought in his mind. Hanamichi. Could Hanamichi still love him? Could he? 

" And I…I just didn't want to see him so broken hearted over it." Rukawa whispered, " It hurt so much to see that Hanamichi felt unloved, as though no one wanted him just because you had been forced to dump him because of me that…I don't know…I just wanted to get him back to the old Hanamichi that he was before, no matter what the cost. So I told him that your backing out had all been my fault and I…I fixed things…" 

Sendoh took in a deep, calming breath, not wanting to get his hopes up for nothing. " You fixed things?" 

" I told Hanamichi about everything. I apologized. I just…really didn't know he cared for you so much. That you being kept from him would hurt him like that." Rukawa shrugged, a heart-rending gesture, Sendoh thought, since it seemed to signify complete and utter defeat on the younger boy's part. " So you win yet again. Congratulations, Sendoh." 

" I win?" 

" You get Hanamichi." Rukawa nodded towards a clock hanging on the wall. " It's getting late, you know. You should be getting over to the Sakuragis. I have a feeling that Hanamichi will be wanting to see you tonight."   
" For your information, Rukawa, you are not second to me and I am going to keep on telling you that until it actually sinks into that thick skull of yours. You, Rukawa Kaede, are just as good as me at everything, even better in some cases. As for people not noticing you anymore…" Sendoh snorted. " That's just plain ridiculous. You can't walk into a room without the eyes of all of the people following you." 

" Get out of here, Sendoh." Rukawa muttered, not really feeling the need to hear such things from his stepbrother right then. It had taken him a lot to do something like that and he just wasn't in the mood for one of Sendoh's uplifting little speeches that god only knew lasted how long. 

" You're a good person." 

" Sendoh!" 

" No. You really are, despite of the front that you put up, you are a good, kind person who is very capable of love. You seem like a bastard at first, but what you are doing right now…" Sendoh's words trailed off. 

" I didn't do it for you." The younger boy reminded him, " I did it for Hanamichi. He seems to have his heart set on you for some weird reason…" 

For a while, Sendoh watched his stepbrother fiddling uncomfortably with the throw pillow that he had on his lap. He couldn't begin to imagine what was going through Rukawa's head right then after just basically turning over someone that he had loved so much to his rival. That had taken a lot. It showed the extent of Rukawa's feelings for the redhead because if he had been willing to give up his own happiness for Hanamichi's sake, then they must run much deeper than anybody else thought possible. " Thank you." He whispered, trying to put as much feeling and gratitude into those two simple words that he could. 

" He loves you. Not me. He chose you." The dejection was obvious from Rukawa's tone of voice and his lowered head. Defeat showed in every line of his body. " I am just…so sick of losing to you…" 

" This isn't a contest. I know that I can't make you see that right now but sooner or later maybe…when you find someone for yourself…" 

" But who? Hanamichi is one of a kind." 

" I know. And that's what makes him so precious. We both understand this, I think. We both love him and I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you." And he found that this was actually the truth. He found no pleasure in the fact that Hanamichi had rejected the fox eyed boy. Sure, he was pleased to know that he still had a chance with the redhead but he felt sorry for Rukawa. He felt sorry for him because now, with the younger boy's sacrifice, he could see just how much the Shohoku star player had truly cared for Hanamichi Sakuragi. 

" You don't mean that." 

" But I do. Why do you always have to contradict me, Rukawa? Why do you always have to compete with me? I don't understand it. What is it about me that you hate so much? And don't give me that ' Because you're better than me' or 'because you beat me' crap because I've got news for you, Rukawa. Out there in the world, there will always be someone who is better than you or me at something. Someone out there that is capable of beating you. And if you can't cope with that, then you'll always remain the jealous little bastard that you are, sulking in your little corner just because your ego had been hurt. I know that you're a smart guy, Rukawa. So I'll give you a little piece of advice that my father gave me before he died, when my elementary school basketball team had just lost the Kanagawa Championships." 

Despite of himself, Rukawa actually found himself to be listening intently to Sendoh. The older boy never spoke about his father so he was naturally curious about him. 

" It's from these people that you can learn. They can push you to better yourself, to do things that you never thought possible. I hope that you wont be discouraged after this whole Hanamichi fiasco, Rukawa, because I have never seen a guy who is more capable of giving love than you are, despite of the fact that this may not seem like the case. One day, you're going to find some other lucky guy out there that you will be able to love just as much as you love Hanamichi now, and I'll be waiting for that day, because maybe then you'll mellow out a little and act less like a bastard." 

" Don't count on it. Now get lost." Rukawa snapped, closing his eyes in preparation for a nap to signal the end of the conversation. " Someone's waiting for you." The Shohoku freshman didn't open his eyes until later, when he heard the door to the room being slammed shut. It was only then that he allowed himself to drop the impassive mask that he was wearing as he recalled his prior conversation with Hanamichi only a few hours before. The conversation that had helped him come around and see the truth… 

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	14. Part Fourteen *conclusion*

  


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Laree's Slam Dunk Fanfiction

Family Ties   
Part Fourteen 

~**~ 

Shohoku High School   
A few hours before   


With the Kanagawa Regional Competition coming up in a couple of weeks, Akagi had become even more of a slave driver at practices, training sessions usually going on until long after the sun had set. So the fact that he actually dismissed the basketball club early that day, there was actually still _sunlight_ when Rukawa walked out of the gym, puzzled everyone. Not that anyone complained. They were only too happy to be given a momentary reprieve from the flat out training that their captain had been doling out to them lately. 

Now, Rukawa liked to think of himself as a dedicated athlete who was one hundred percent devoted to the sport that he loved. He had sacrificed more for basketball than he cared to think about, spare time that could have been better spent sleeping or lounging about the family room watching the Discovery Channel, which he found to be infinitely interesting. 

Who didn't want to know about the mating rituals of cranes? His brother thought he was a pervert for watching such things, but who cared? Nobody knew about his secret, back up plan in the very, very improbable case that he should not succeed in basketball: he was going to be a zookeeper. That seemed to be the profession for him, since he thought animals would be a whole lot easier to get along with than people, people such as Sendoh Akira and Sakuragi Hanamichi. Still, that was only a back up plan. 

He still intended to be, oh, he was aiming a little lower this time, Japan's best basketball player, being the _world's_ best basketball player could come later. To do that, he would need practice, lots of it. And usually, he was only too happy to practice away like mad. But He didn't quite feel up to it that afternoon. He may be a star athlete with incredible potential, but he also just happened to be a lovesick teenage boy with some love problems that were very, very profound and important, in his opinion. And right then, that lovesick, teenage boy part of him was insisting that he go and lock himself in his room to brood over the dilemma that he was in and forget about his star athlete side that wanted him to go on practicing till he dropped. 

His plans for an all out self-pity marathon flew completely out of his head, though, when he caught sight of a flash of red by one of the many trees lining the front lawn of Shohoku High School. Red. Red was always associated to Sakuragi in his mind. So Sakuragi was there, sitting against the tree. Once this realization hit him, he stopped in his tracks, pondering on what his next move should be. 

The way he saw it, he had two options. The first was that he go and sit himself beside his teammate as though none of the Do'aho-Teme Kitsune exchanges had ever occurred in the past, and pretend that Hanamichi didn't hate him so that he could try and strike up a conversation. The second was that he just go right on back to his home and proceed to wallow in his self pity, like he had originally planned. 

He would be taking a big chance if he took the first option. Worst-case scenario was that Hanamichi would cause him some sort of bodily harm for daring to come up to him, thereby rendering him incapable of playing in the Inter High. But Rukawa merely shrugged at this thought. Oh well. He had a back up plan in the case that he wasn't meant to play basketball for his living anyways. Kanagawa University offered a course on Zoology. Or he could always do what Mitsui had done and spend the rest of his miserable years in Shohoku running around with his own gang, only to make a big, incredible come back on his last year of High School once he had fully recovered. 

Hanamichi was well worth the risk, in his opinion, and this was the best time to strike, while he and Sendoh weren't acting all disgustingly buddy-buddy with each other. He would be a fool if he gave this opportunity a miss. 

Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, Rukawa slowly made his way to where his teammate was sitting, idly looking up into the sky as though he were searching for something within the clouds. Without a word, he dropped down onto the ground beside the redhead, leaning his back against the same tree that Hanamichi was sitting against. The notoriously hotheaded basketball player merely glanced at Rukawa, before returning to perusing the sky. But not before commenting, " This sure is sure is turning out to be a weird day…" 

The fox eyed boy remained silent, not knowing what to say, or what Hanamichi might want to hear right then. Sure, he came with the intention of getting his teammate to see that he really wasn't as bad a person as he thought him to be. But that was way easier said that done. For one thing, Hanamichi hadn't given him an opening to start in on that line of conversation. He had merely made a comment on the weirdness of the day and Rukawa didn't know how he was supposed to bring up the 'hey, you know what, I'm really a pretty nice guy once you get to know me' line of conversation. He couldn't just suddenly blurt that out, could he? 

Met with his dark haired companion's silence, Hanamichi pressed his lips tightly together in barely controlled annoyance. The Kitsune had come to him after all, had _sought_ him out. The least that he could do was to provide some diverting conversation, no matter how trivial. But then again, what else could you expect from Rukawa? What he wouldn't have given to be on good terms with Mitsui again. At least that guy was always willing to talk in the occasions that Hanamichi just needed something to distract himself with. Rolling his eyes, the redhead plucked a blade of grass from the ground and proceeded to twist it around his index finger. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he fought hard to keep certain thoughts about certain spiky haired basketball players with devastatingly charming smiles out of his mind. 

" What's wrong?" 

Hanamichi's head shot up at the sound of those two words, his hazel eyes directed towards the unexpected speaker. Rukawa stared right back at him briefly with his own cold blue eyes, then diverted his gaze quickly to his lap once he saw the confusion and the surprise within the depths of those enchanting eyes. " Kitsune…" 

Thinking that he might as well continue trying to persuade his companion to share whatever it was that was bothering him since he had already started with the whole reaching out process, Rukawa doggedly repeated his previous question. " What's wrong?" He knew that something was bothering the guy. After spending countless of hours observing Hanamichi and his behavior, it wasn't very hard for him to pick up on the guy's moods. And after having overheard Kogure's conversation with Akagi just a moment before, he thought he could take a pretty good guess as to what it was that had gotten his teammate so down. But he still wanted to hear it directly from Hanamichi. 

" What the hell would you care?" Being the impulsive person that he was, Hanamichi blurted out the first thing that came to mind. But after a bit of thought, he regretted having snapped at Rukawa like that. Here the guy was, trying to actually act _human_ for once and the first thing he did was to try and quash that attempt by acting like a bastard. Sure, Rukawa gave off the impression of being a cold, heinous, standoffish snob. But if there was one thing that Hanamichi had learned from the past few weeks, first impressions weren't always right. " Look, Rukawa. I'm sure that you must be a perfectly nice guy in your own, cold little way. And I appreciate you being here and all. But, no offense or anything, you're not exactly the type of guy that I would like to have a serious discussion with…" 

" Why?" 

" Well…because you wouldn't understand…" How could anyone ever understand the intense, mind numbing pain that he was experiencing right then after Sendoh's cold dismissal, least of all this emotionless block of ice sitting on the grass beside him. 

" Why do people always assume that I wouldn't understand?" Rukawa murmured, more to himself than to Sakuragi. That was something that had always puzzled him. Sure, he wasn't renowned when it came to his people skills, but he was human. He also had feelings, hard as that may be to believe. And though he seriously doubted that he understood all the mixed emotions within him any more than Hanamichi might understand whatever it was that was bothering him, he sincerely wanted to help. He didn't like seeing Hanamichi this way. 

" Maybe because people perceive you as an emotionless block of ice?" Hanamichi answered, in spite of the fact that Rukawa hadn't been expecting any answers to his question. "Face it, Rukawa. Nothing can get a rise out of you. You don't react to _anything_, except maybe once in a while when I manage to piss you off. How can you expect to be taken into other people's confidence when you act like a snooty, uncaring bastard all of the time?" 

" Am I acting like that now?" 

" A little bit, maybe. But surprisingly enough, you're being quite decent." Hanamichi admitted reluctantly as he dug his hands into the lush grass. He risked a glance at Rukawa, who was still studiously avoiding his gaze. He could gather nothing from his facial expression, which was basically non-existent. 

" See. So try me. See if I can understand after all." 

" I seriously doubt that you will." 

" Why?" The cool, calm questioning was beginning to get to Sakuragi. He could tell by the way that the redhead was gently banging his head against the trunk of the tree that they were both leaning against. 

Finally, the head banging ceased and softly, so softly that Rukawa had to lean in close to hear him, Hanamichi whispered. " Because you've never fallen in love before, Rukawa. So don't think you can understand what I'm going through right now…" 

A few moments of silence met this proclamation. In his mind, Rukawa knew exactly who it was that the object of his desire had fallen in love with, but he still stubbornly refused to believe it, still hoping against hope that maybe there was still a bit of a chance for him. After all, hadn't it been progress enough that he was actually sitting next to Hanamichi talking to him instead of exchanging insults with him? " What makes you think that?" 

" Because you haven't, have you?" Hanamichi asked uncertainly, unable to imagine the cold-blooded Kitsune having any other feeling towards another person other than rivalry. 

" I have…" And he wished that he could just blurt out that it was _him_ that he had fallen in love with. But he couldn't do that. Not after having gone this far. Not after he actually had Hanamichi _talking_ to him. 

" Oh. Good for you, then." And to his surprise, Hanamichi actually meant it. In his opinion, everyone should have someone to love, even emotionless blocks of ice, as he had previously described his teammate. " Well, I just hope that things are going better for you than they're going for me…" 

Rukawa snorted at this comment, thinking over the pathetic excuse that was his non-existent love life. At least in Hanamichi's case, the person that he cared for actually reciprocated his feelings, though he might not have been aware of that right then. 

" From that reaction, I'm guessing that things are going pretty badly for you right now too, huh?" The redhead had begun to feel a strange, and wholly unexpected sense of kinship with Rukawa. Though he still felt that the fox-eyed boy would not be able to understand the kind of situation that he was in. " But I'm telling you right now, that _your_ love life cannot get any more depressing than mine…" 

" Who are you to judge, do'aho?" Thankfully enough, Hanamichi chose to ignore his sudden lapse back into the whole name calling ritual. 

" You're going to have a really hard time beating my sob story, Rukawa. I'm telling you right now…" Hanamichi smirked, before taking a deep breath and plunging right into things before he chickened out. He didn't even bother to think of the consequences of revealing all of his feelings to Rukawa like this. All he wanted was to get it all out so that he could get on with his life. He needed someone to tell him that he was being stupid; Rukawa had always been more than willing to do this in the past. He needed someone to tell him that he just had to get on with his life, whether or not Sendoh wanted him. " All right, picture _this_ worst case scenario. This guy has had a couple of relationships before. One that was completely whacked and one that was actually quite good, but which ended with the couple deciding to just remain friends after they realized that they were just _way_ too combustible together to ever be able to work out. 

" This last one, Rukawa. That one really hit him hard, though he would never, _ever_ admit it to Mitsui…" Realizing his slip up, Hanamichi blushed a bright red, but eventually continued after the fox-eyed boy made no visible reaction to the mention of their senior. "So anyways, he thought that he was okay with things. That he was getting on nicely with life. And then suddenly, the ex that he had really, really cared for starts going out with someone else, a friend of his. He sees how sweet the two are with each other and he gets jealous. He wanted that. Why couldn't he have had that with his old boyfriend before? 

" As far as he could see, there was no one around who he would ever be able to love as much as he had loved his old boyfriend, and then suddenly, out of the blue, some guy comes along and he falls for him, slowly, but surely. Even though lots of things between them go wrong at first. 

" Like for example, he had somehow deluded himself into thinking that he was in love with some girl, just so that he could take his mind off his ex. He got it into his head that the new guy was making a move on the girl that he thought he liked, and after that, he started avoiding him, ignoring him because he believed that he was angry at him for hitting on the girl that he thought that he was in love with when in truth, he was just angry that the guy was paying attention to the girl instead of him. Are you getting this?" 

Rukawa nodded brusquely. Of course he was. Hadn't he been the one to set up the whole Sendoh-Haruko episode? 

" But they finally managed to get past that once the guy explained everything to him and asked him out on a date with him. He accepted, of course, and he was incredibly, ecstatically happy, because after such a long, long time of waiting, it finally seemed as though he had found _the one_." Still finding the ability be humorous even while in the middle of telling his story, Hanamichi said the last two words in a low, hushed rather reverent tone as he had observed other people doing whenever they spoke of such things. " People always talk about finding _the one_, but that's really much harder to do than all of the romantic movies make it seem. But he _knew_. He just _knew_, that this was the perfect guy for him. 

" He thought that the guy cared for him. Maybe even…loved him. But he was wrong. The night before the big date, he was so excited that he couldn't keep still. So he went to a court near his home to try and work off some steam. He was there for a while, then his ex boyfriend, who had grown to be really good friends with the guy that he had fallen for, suddenly made an appearance and told him that the date was off. Just like that. He didn't even do it face to face. He just got someone else to do if for him instead of facing me on his own…" Hanamichi's words trailed off and he didn't even realize that he had stopped telling the story as though it were about someone else. Not that it mattered much anyways since he knew that Rukawa knew that _he_ had been the guy in the story that he had just recounted. " Is that sad, or what, Kitsune?" 

Rukawa shrugged. He had known pretty much everything that Hanamichi had just told him, except for the Mitsui breaking the date off with him part. " It is… Let me just ask you something though, Sakuragi." He paused, wondering briefly how the redhead would react to the following question. "How can you be so sure that Sendoh is the one?" 

Hanamichi's head snapped up at the sound of the name. " Who said I was talking about Sendoh?" 

" I live with him, remember. I'd be an idiot not to notice the way he fawns over you." And Sendoh was plenty loud when it came to declaring his feelings about Hanamichi while they were at home. The redhead's name was out of the guy's mouth at least every five seconds. "Humor me. Answer my question." 

" You're being awfully talkative today, Rukawa. Aren't you over your day's word usage quota already?" 

" I've found that not talking can sometimes be a disadvantage." Rukawa replied simply. If he didn't act so damn cold, if he was all friendly and bubbly like Sendoh was, would Hanamichi have liked him better then? But there was nothing he could do about the way he acted. He was too used to being his silent self and he felt that it was just too late for him to try and change. That it would take too much out of him to. " Now tell me." 

How could he be sure that Sendoh was the one? The question seemingly repeated itself over and over in his mind. How could he be sure? Well…Hanamichi didn't know if he could ever be _really_ sure. He just believed, as Mitsui did, that you just had to trust your gut feelings in these matters and right now, his gut feelings were telling him that Sendoh was the one. As much as he might wish for that to not be the case right then…" This is going to sound stupid, Rukawa. But I just know. I know because being without Sendoh like this…hurts me. I know that I should hate him for what he did, that gutless, spineless bastard. But I don't. I don't hate him. I just want him to change his mind. I…want to be with him… Because it hurts when I'm not. And I _know_ this, because you don't understand just how hard it was for me to keep myself away from him that time when I thought that he was trying to make a move on Haruko… I had to struggle with myself every day then, keep reminding myself that I hated him, even though deep inside, I knew that I loved him…" 

Hanamichi turned those captivating hazel eyes towards him, as though expecting something. Ridicule, some sort of comment about how no one would ever be able to love a do'aho. But Rukawa was too deep in his thoughts about what his companion had just said to notice this. 

He had said that he was _hurting_. Hurting because of Sendoh and his sudden change of heart. _He_ had been the one that had brought about that change in the redhead's love interest so basically, _he_ was the one that was causing Hanamichi's suffering. And he was suffering plenty, from what Rukawa could see. 

Throughout the afternoon's practice, the redhead had been despondent and had played half heartedly, a big change from his usual, flat out style of ball playing. It just didn't seem right to see Hanamichi like that. And now that his suspicions had been confirmed, and he knew the cause of the redhead's strange behavior, he was beginning to feel ashamed of himself. He hadn't _known_ that Hanamichi had cared so deeply for Sendoh. He didn't think that _anyone_ could love the spiky haired nuisance as much as this guy obviously did. But if he had just known, if he had just been aware of how much his annoying stepbrother had meant to Hanamichi from the start, then he wouldn't have done what he had done. He would have let things be, because he had never meant for Hanamichi to be this unhappy. He had thought that he would be doing the guy a favor by cutting things with the smiley hentai short, when apparently his actions had only hurt him. It was actually beginning to sink into his mind that Hanamichi really wanted Sendoh over him. This had seemed unbelievable to him at first. Now it was painfully obvious, from the way that the guy was pining for his rival. 

But it couldn't be too late to fix things yet… 

" Listen to me. Don't interrupt me. Don't punch me out until I finish with what I have to say." Rukawa instructed Hanamichi as for the first time since he had sat himself down beside him; Rukawa met the redhead's gaze steadily. Seeing the earnest look on his companion's face, Hanamichi merely nodded and kept quiet as Rukawa plunged right on with his speech. " You want to hear a sob story, listen to mine. From the very first moment that I ran into this guy, I fell in love with him. He was everything that I wasn't, my complete opposite in every way. But I thought that that was a good thing. That he would compliment me. The only problem was that, from the second that the guy first laid eyes on me he hated me. He hated the very sight of me. And there was nothing that I could do to change his impression of me. I was always the Kitsune to him. His enemy." 

Hanamichi's eyes widened and Rukawa knew that his companion, who was notoriously slow on the uptake, had gotten his indirect confession. " Rukawa…" 

" You promised not to interrupt." Rukawa reminded him, his tone clipped and businesslike. His eyes narrowed, daring Hanamichi to try and say anything further. 

" This really isn't the time for this…" 

"Shut up and listen to me, do'aho. You were the one who started me talking, so now you're the one who has to hear me through." He punched Sakuragi on the shoulder, not hard enough to really hurt but just enough to show him that he was serious and could inflict a lot more damage if he so desired. " So I just went right on acting like I felt nothing but contempt and reciprocated hatred for this guy, even though inside, I just wished that he would maybe learn to just _like_ me one day. 

" I've always been a very competitive kind of person, I think that that's a pretty good thing, though sometimes, I do admit that I get to be a little too much." Rukawa pointedly ignored the derisive snort from Hanamichi upon hearing that comment. " And I've always had some…well, competitiveness induced hatred for Sendoh Akira just because…well, he's better than me. I know that he is and I hate it, because I'm not used to being just second best in basketball. It's really the only thing that I'm good at. I suck with people. I suck in school. Basketball is the one thing that I can actually excel in. So imagine what it's like for me to know that there's someone out there who is not only better than me within my field of expertise, but in all other things. He's more sociable. He's smarter than me. He's perfect…" 

" Sendoh has his faults. Like all people." If anyone had told Hanamichi that he would be comforting the hated Kitsune like this just the day before, he would have died of laughter, but then he had never thought it possible that his rival would be sharing something this personal and important like this. 

" But I have more. And that's what bothers me. So I guess you can understand how horrified I was when my father met Sendoh's mother and they first started going out. Things just got worse from there and they got married so the Sendohs had to move in. I had to share a room with Sendoh and he was forced to transfer to Shohoku because Ryonan was just too far away for it to be convenient for him. Then he met you and he was able to do something that I was never able to, as usual. He managed to befriend you within just a few minutes when I had known you far longer than him and we still couldn't get past the whole insult-exchanging phase." Rukawa shrugged. He guessed that some people were just naturally blessed with social skills, while he, unfortunately, had been cursed by a lack of it. " That was the last straw for me, Sakuragi. I just couldn't believe that now, I even had to compete with him off court as well as on. And because of this, I did some pretty desperate and…mean things. After seeing how much they've affected you, I realize now that they were wrong and that I've been stupid. You'll hate me after this, but that's all right. I can live with that, I guess. After all, you've hated me all this time. Nothing would have changed. It was me and everything is my fault." 

" Oh, come on, Rukawa. You had nothing to do with this…" 

" It was me that put that idea into your head about Sendoh and Haruko. He was just talking to her, asking her about you and your relationship with her but I got you thinking that he was hitting on her so that you would hate him." Rukawa went on hurriedly, afraid that he would lose his nerve and be unable to continue with his confession. His gaze was fixed on his lap. He didn't think he would be able to bear seeing the hate in Hanamichi's eyes. " I told Sendoh that you were homophobic so that he would be afraid to approach you. I made him so miserable at home that I guess he just got sick of it and thought that it would just be better for him to stop things with you so that I would let up on him. I was…really being horrible, Sakuragi, not only to Sendoh, but to his little brother and sister as well. His family really means a lot to him, you know. He loves those two. So I guess that he just broke things off with you, thinking that I would be easier on them if I got what I wanted, which was you…" 

" Why?" 

"Why did I do those things? Because…I love you… And I was desperate. I didn't want to be beaten by Sendoh again. I wanted to prove that I could get something that he couldn't. But…Sakuragi, don't get me wrong. It wasn't just about the competition. The factor that really pushed me to do those things the most was my love for you…" 

Hanamichi shook his head slowly, still trying to absorb all that the dark haired boy had just told him. " I don't mean that. I mean why are you telling me all of this now? If you wanted me to like you, then you would have been better off just keeping all of this to yourself and not letting me know. You realize now that I'm probably going to hate you for ruining something this important for me. I haven't decided yet whether I hate you or not right now because I'm still in shock and I'm still trying to understand everything. But later on, I'm probably going to end up beating you senseless…" 

" I would deserve it…" 

" You _would_. But…why, Rukawa?" 

" Because I love you." 

" Bull shit." 

" Because I love you." Rukawa insisted stubbornly, in spite of the redhead's obvious scorn. " And seeing you hurt like that over Sendoh, seeing you hurting because of what I had done…I just don't want you to be sad. I love you, and I want you to be happy. And if being with Sendoh makes you happy… then I guess I'll have to deal with that. I can cope with that a lot better than having to cope with seeing you all miserable and depressed, the way that you were today…" 

" Rukawa…" 

" Yeah?" 

" I've decided…" Hanamichi told him softly. 

" About what?" 

The redhead sighed. " I…_don't_ hate you. I want to kick you in the ass for all the stunts that you pulled and I'm really, really angry at you right now, but I don't hate you. Who knows, maybe after I've gone over this whole, miserable mess a couple of times, I might actually forgive you and we might…well, become friends. It might be a good idea to stay out of my sight for a bit this next week or so. I've never really been known for my self control." 

" I understand that. But…what about Sendoh?" 

Hanamichi shrugged. 

" He really does care for you, you know…" 

" What he did hurt." 

" But being without him hurts you even more." As much as he loathed to do this, he owed it to Hanamichi. " Are you going to be at your house later on tonight?" 

" Since my big date is off, yeah." Hanamichi replied, his bitterness obvious in his tone of voice. 

" Then wait there. It's time I made amends. But I'm not doing this for Sendoh. I'm doing this because of you…"   


~**~ 

" Just because I'm letting you inside my house, doesn't mean I've forgiven you for what you've done, you jerk." Hanamichi informed the spiky haired boy that trailed after him as he made his way into the tiny living room of the apartment that he shared with his elder brother. He dropped down onto an armchair and watched with narrowed eyes as Sendoh lowered himself onto the couch across from him. 

" I deserve that." 

" You do!" Hanamichi agreed adamantly. " Callous bastard. Getting my ex-boyfriend to break off a date with me like that…" the redhead went on mumbling about insensitive, spiky haired idiots who he hoped were going to burn in hell. 

" I admit that that was a horrible, horrible thing that I did…" 

" I bet you didn't break things off with Koshino like that." Hanamichi remarked, enjoying the obvious discomfort of his companion. 

" No…Hanamichi-kun. He was the one that broke it off. He pushed me off the pier while I was fishing, so just be thankful that I'm not inclined towards violence like _him_." 

" _I'd_ like to push you off the pier right now, and hold you down under the water until you die." 

" You can do that, _after_ you hear me out, all right, Hanamichi-kun?" And despite of himself, the redhead found himself incapable of resisting the pleading look on the older boy's face. Hanamichi simply nodded for him to go on. " That was a very cowardly thing that I did, getting Mitsui involved in all of this. I'm really, really sorry for doing that. More sorry than you could ever imagine. Hanamichi-kun, if we come out of this with you still hating me, that's all right with me as long as you forgive Mitsui-kun. It really wasn't his fault. I begged him, and begged him to do it until he just agreed. Please. Don't hold my stupidity against Mitsui-kun. You mean so much to him, and I know that he's one of your best friends too." 

" Mitsui's always been an idiot…" 

" Please forgive me for the crude way that I broke our date off…" Sendoh winced, running his hands agitatedly though his gelled up hair as he was reminded of what had probably been the stupidest move he had ever made in his life. " It must have made you think that I cared for you so little that I couldn't have even bothered to tell you face to face that things were off. It was stupid of me to give you no reason. But Hanamichi-kun, you would be wrong to think that. The reason why I didn't want to break things off personally was because I was afraid that I would give in to myself with you in front of me and fail to do what I had come to do once I was faced with you… 

" As for the reason…you have to understand that my family is very important to me. Ever since my father…killed himself, I've sworn to make things as easy for Naoko-chan and Totoya-chan as I could and when we came to the Rukawa household, things just went badly with Kaede. They got even worse when I got involved with you, I think you're already aware of Rukawa's feelings for you by now, and I just wanted it all to stop. I wanted my mother to stop worrying about my relationship with Kaede. I just wanted some peace at the house, and I thought that I would get some if I broke things off with you because then Kaede would be happy." Sendoh's voice lowered, his warm blue eyes fixed hesitantly onto Hanamichi's. " But what is peace without you around to liven things up? I've talked to Kaede. He still doesn't like me. But I think that he's more willing to accept the idea of me with you now. I don't know what it was that made him come around like this, but I thank God that he did. Because after sampling life with you not around, I've found that it's pure misery. I couldn't do anything without thinking of you." 

Hesitantly, Hanamichi admitted, " Same here…" And upon hearing those words, one of Sendoh's mega watt smiles magically bloomed onto his face. 

" So what I basically came here to ask you, Hanamichi-kun," His tone of voice was considerably perkier now, more like the old Sendoh that the redhead knew and yes, loved. "Is if you would consider maybe going out on a date with me. Right now. God forbid that there be any delays after I've been waiting so long! I realize that it's sort of late and that we're not exactly dressed for the fancy restaurant that I booked a reservation for, but what the hell! There's always the fine cuisine at Danny's! What do you say, Hana-kun?" Sendoh bounded to his feet and offered his hand to Hanamichi, who took it willingly. 

" I say that that sounds gre-" Before he could even finish, Sendoh had already pulled him against him for a deep, passionate kiss where they let out all of their pent up longing and frustration of the past few days, and celebrated the long awaited coming together of two people who, just moments before, had thought it was all over for them. 

Eventually, Sendoh broke the kiss, breathless though he still did not let go of his hold on Hanamichi. " I've been waiting a long time to do that…" 

" Hmm…me too…" Hanamichi murmured, nuzzling up against Sendoh and wrinkling his nose in disgust as he caught a whiff of the guy he was cuddling up to. " God, Sen-chan. Have you even _showered_ since we had practice? You stink." 

" You're ruining the moment here…" Sendoh muttered, slightly put out by the untimely comment. Trust Hanamichi to be blunt even at a romantic time like this… " I was distracted, all right?" 

" Well, we're not going out until I spray some cologne on you…" 

" Do whatever you like with me Hana-kun…But…I have to ask you something…"Sendoh placed a gentle kiss against Hanamichi's lips before pulling back so that he could look into the redhead's eyes as he spoke. " Do you remember the day when I asked you out and I told you that I had fallen in love with the sweetest, most amusing person that I had ever had the pleasure of knowing? That I had found the person that I wanted to share the rest of my life with, no matter how ridiculous that may sound since I'm only seventeen…" [1] 

" Yeah…" Hanamichi _vaguely_ recalled Sendoh saying something like that. 

" You wanted to know who it was that I was talking about, and I told you that I would tell you when the right time comes. Well, now's the right time…" Sendoh's grin widened as his arms around Hanamichi tightened their hold even more. He leaned in close so as to whisper his next words into the redhead's ear. " It's _you_ Hanamichi. And if you haven't figured that out yet until now, then there has just _got_ to be something wrong with you…"   


~**~ The End ~**~ 

I've been waiting to write 'The End' for a long, long time at the end of this ficcy…Heehee. 

Wow. I can't believe this. I finally finished this fic T___T The longest that I've ever written. And It took me nearly a year too… *wipes away tears of joy* Heehee…This was, I believe, the fourth Slam Dunk fic that I've written and though there are some parts that I would like to maybe re-write later on, I'm very proud of this and the fact that I've managed to finish it…Heehee. ^_____^ anyway, tell me what you think of the ending. ^___^ Next mission is to finish The Matchmaker @__@ Heehee…   
  
  
  


[1] This happened at Part Seven. One of my favorite Hana acting dumb chapters…Heehee… 

Concluded June 13, 2002   
5:34 A.M 

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